Cautiously Wishing For
by gip-k
Summary: Two worlds... two men... one wish. COMPLETED! Partake of the wonderful adventure of lives, loves, and HUMOR! Is quite funny! A cross-over between Rurouni Kenshin and Dragonball Z. Please Read and Review!
1. The Switch

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Sentiments of** gip-k: -**Hello people! This is none other than the author of this fanfiction speaking, the mysterious girl in the purple kimono! This is only the second fanfiction I've ever created! Yes, you can see my first at my friend Aeka's shrine to Kaoru Kamiya, Thru Raccoon Eyes. **()** J She also has a lot of other good sites, so please check them out! She even has a few stories here at ff.net! She goes under the pen name **Aeka-Himme**. J I'd also like to take this time to thank my younger brother, known to the public as **Gokaia_Z**, for helping me out with this chapter! It was difficult to do the correct timing, since my complete love for Rurouni Kenshin made me forget a lot of the timing of events for DragonBall Z, but I still like the show a lot, and don't think I didn't practically watch the whole thing, so I'm experienced! J It's irresistible. If you start watching a little of an episode, then you had better finish the rest because you know your eyes are glued to the TV set anyway. J 

Well, anyway, let me get to the story. This story is a CROSSOVER BETWEEN DRAGONBALL Z AND RUROUNI KENSHIN. If you think you might become ill, have a nervous breakdown, go insane, or burst out in hysterical laughter for no apparent reason, I strongly advise against reading it. If you believe that the occurrence of an injury of any kind, particularly of the mind, is not likely, then read on! The story's below. Enjoy! J 

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**---Chapter 1---**

__

Beep, beep. The dragon radar in Bulma's hand made a distinct ringing noise. Her deep blue eyes lighted up at the sound. Her pale, chin-length blue hair moved slightly as she jerked her head downward. Those eyes scanned the forest green screen of the round object she held in the palm of her right hand. A smile appeared on her lips at the sight of a blinking light on the screen.

"All right!" Bulma exclaimed. "I think we've found the last dragonball!"

Dragonballs were orange in color, and as shiny as the perfect crystal. Each dragonball had a certain number of five-pointed red stars on it. All of the dragonballs, there being seven in all, had stars according to their numbers. The first had one star, the second had two stars, and so on. The dragonballs were not special for their shininess or resistance to damage. They possessed a special power. When a person collected all seven dragonballs, they used a special password, which summoned a large green dragon named Shenlong. Shenlong would then grant the person's wish. 

On normal conditions, Bulma would have used the dragonballs to wish herself a boyfriend. She couldn't do that, now. No, she couldn't do that at all. Or wait… maybe she could. No, with trouble brewing, she couldn't do that. Goku and the guys had just recently defeated the Ginnyu force, and Frieza may have been out there somewhere, waiting for the opportunity to strike. 

Bulma jumped up excitedly, but nearly fell. Yikes! She had forgotten they were riding in a jeep! 

"The last dragonball!" Krillin exclaimed, his black eyes shining. "But that means-"

"Exactly," Bulma said without turning to the short, bald man sitting across from her. Her eyes shone like crystals in the sunlight as she stared ahead blissfully. "We can make a wish! Yippee!"

"Uh, Chi-Chi, you don't look very excited," Krillin said, carefully.

Bulma's eyes widened, and she turned to the black-haired woman sitting between her and Krillin. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest; anger and defiance was present in her dark eyes. She appeared to ignore everything that was going on around her, including the fact that the wind was blowing around her bangs and the loose strands that were hanging out of near-perfect bun. 

"I can't believe that man!" Chi-Chi said, a deep-set scowl giving her mouth and ugly twist as she spoke. "Running off to space like that! Doesn't he know the role a man should play in a family? He has a son down here to look after! He doesn't even care! How am I supposed to take care of Gohan-"

Speaking of Gohan, he was at home, resting. He would have come, except that he hadn't been feeling well for the last few days.

"Uh, Chi-Chi?" Krillin said, a friendly smile appearing on his face. "Uh, I'm sure Goku cares a lot about you and Gohan and-" Krillin was cut off when Chi-Chi's angry gaze turned to him. He let out a frightened sounding laugh. "Uh, you know what I mean, don't you, Chi-Chi? I'm his best friend. I know he means this for the best."

"Yeah, I've always liked that kid," the giant man in the front of the jeep declared. 

"Dad!" Chi-Chi said, her eyes flashing.

The man driving the jeep was Chi-Chi's father, the Ox-King. He was a giant man, and he wore a brown hat with two ox horns sticking out of it. His usual clothing was a short-sleeve button up shirt, the color white, and a pair of copper-colored pants, held up by blue suspenders. It was exactly what he was wearing right now.

"I didn't mean anything by it, Chi-Chi," the Ox-King stated defensively. 

Bulma was more than a little tired of hearing Chi-Chi's complaining. She shouldn't have married the unruly haired man in the first place. 

"Step on it, Ox-King," Bulma said, excited. "We're getting closer to the dragonball with every mile!" 

The Ox-King did step on it, and Krillin, Chi-Chi and Bulma were pummeled forward violently. 

"Oops, sorry guys," the Ox-King stated, embarrassment present in his deep voice.

"Are you sure he should be driving this thing?" Krillin whispered uncertainly.

Another angry look from Chi-Chi silenced him permanently. 

Chi-Chi had been like that ever since Goku, her husband, had gone off to space to train. He had decided he needed more training after they had defeated the Ginnyu force, led by the infamous Captain Ginnyu and his crazy crew. Bulma shivered as she remembered it. Captain Ginnyu had been forced to trade bodies with a frog, so in turn he traded bodies with her, and _she _became the frog. That had been terrible. Bulma looked over herself once more, still relieved that she was in her own body. She would never let that happen again. She hoped that Ginnyu would stay as that frog for the rest of his existence.

Bulma snapped back to alertness and quickly looked at the dragon radar.

"Wait a minute! We're here! Stop the jeep!" Bulma exclaimed.

The Ox-King slammed on the breaks, and once again the people in the back seat were shaken vigorously.

"Dad, you are the worst driver ever known to man," Chi-Chi muttered half under her breath. 

"Sorry, Chi-Chi," the Ox-King said regretfully.

After everyone had recovered from the bone-jarring jolt, they exited the jeep. Birds chirped in the tall trees all around them, and the grass underneath their feet was plush and sweet smelling, despite the certain rocky areas that interrupted the pattern of smooth soil. 

"Wow," Krillin said as he looked around. "This is amazing."

"What's amazing?" Bulma said, swatting some bugs away from her face. 

"What do you mean 'what's amazing?' This whole place is amazing!" Krillin said incredulously.

"Oh, I get it!" Bulma exclaimed. "You mean that because the dragonball is here. Well then, let's begin the search. Krillin, you search over there. The rest of us can search everywhere else."

Krillin shook his head in amazement.

"I guess only some people are given the ability to appreciate nature," Krillin said to himself. "Well, I guess I'd better start searching for the dragonball."

Together, the crew searched for sparkly sphere. Chi-Chi muttered to herself angrily the entire time. Frustrated that they did not immediately find the dragonball, Bulma looked at the radar again.

"I don't get it," Bulma said. "According to the radar the dragonball is right here."

"Uh, allow me, Bulma," Krillin said, walking up to where Bulma stood. Bulma raised her eyebrow suspiciously. Krillin put his hands on a big, gray boulder that Bulma was standing next to, and pushed with all his might. It moved easily under his strength. 

"There we go," Krillin said, dusting his hands off on his orange training suit. He and Bulma looked to the ground. There was a glimpse of something orange buried in the dark, damp soil underneath the boulder. 

"There it is!" Bulma tossed the dragon radar to Krillin and then bent down on her knees to dig up the dragonball. She didn't care if her nails got dirty! This was precious! 

Before long the dragonball's round shape appeared. Bulma picked it up, and held the small ball carefully in the palms of both her hands, though it could have fit in one. She rubbed it off gently with her hand, and soon it was shimmering like a true dragonball should, and the six red stars it bore soon appeared. Bulma couldn't help but laugh, the ecstasy of this moment would stay clear in her mind forever.

"Hey guys!" Krillin called. "We've found the dragonball!"

Chi-Chi and her father soon came running over. Their eyes shone with delight at the sight of the dragonball. 

"So this means we have all seven?" Chi-Chi breathed.

"Yeah!" Bulma said, her eyes never leaving the beautiful orange sphere. "That means we can make a wish… whatever we want!"

"Wait a minute, Bulma," Krillin said, sounding disturbed.

"What is it?" Bulma said, turning to her friend.

"The other six dragonballs are still at home," he replied.

"So!" Bulma said. "We can still go get them!"

"But what about Vegeta?" Krillin asked. "He still wants to wish for immortality, doesn't he?"

Vegeta was the only other Saiyan alive in the world besides Goku. He was a short man, yet appearances meant nothing. He had an amazingly high power level, yet he wasn't satisfied. The mean, ill-tempered man did nothing but train all the time, and wanted nothing less than to use the dragonballs to wish for immortality and power. The only reason he had even joined them was because he was against Frieza, too. Krillin still didn't fully trust him, though he doubted he'd pull anything sneaky at the moment. Despite this, if he discovered that they had the last dragonball… 

"Oh, he's no problem at all," Bulma said. "He doesn't have eyes in the back of his head, does he? We can always take away the dragonballs when he's not looking."

"Bulma, are you insane!" Krillin said, looking shocked. "We'll be caught for sure!"

"Oh, stop bickering you two!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, her tone as bitter as a lemon rind. "We'll decide everything when we get there."

So after a little more argument, the group got back on to the jeep. This time, Bulma drove. 

****

Later…

When the group arrived back home, they received a warm welcome from Master Roshi. His eyes traveled over to Bulma. His cheeks reddened with delight at the sight of her. 

__

She's hotter than when she was eighteen. Master Roshi thought mischievously. _He-he. If only she would wear less clothing, maybe just bikinis. Oh yeah, bikinis would look good on that girl. No, maybe no clothes-_

"Hi, Master Roshi!" 

Krillin's cheerful greeting interrupted Master Roshi's disturbingly indecent thoughts.

"Hey, Krillin," Master Roshi said as Krillin got out of the jeep. "Did you find the dragonball?"

"Yes!" Bulma said, and massive smile appearing on her face. 

"What!" Master Roshi exclaimed. "You actually found the last dragonball?"

When Bulma was about to continue, a certain short man, with dark hair that stuck straight up in untamable spikes with not a strand coming downward, emerged from the training capsule. He was drenched in sweat and as of now he was apparently in none-too-good of a mood.

"What was all that racket about?" Vegeta snapped. "I was trying to concentrate."

Nobody spoke up for a while.

"Well, speak up," Vegeta said, glaring at the people around him. "Did I hear noise or did I not?"

No one answered. Surprisingly, Vegeta's mouth twisted into a devious smile. 

"I see," Vegeta said. "So you are afraid to speak to the Prince of all Saiyans, the supreme master of the universe. Ha! Weaklings! Your precious Kakkarot is not here to baby-sit you now, is he?"

With that, Vegeta turned around and left them standing there. As soon as Vegeta was back inside the training capsule, Krillin let out a deep breath.

"Sheesh, that's not one guy you want to catch on a bad day," Krillin said, relief evident in his voice.

"What an egotistical jerk," Bulma said angrily.

"You can say that again," Chi-Chi said. "This is one day I _really _wish Goku was here. He could kick that loser's hide all the way to the moon. In fact, let me do that myself-"

The Ox-King grabbed Chi-Chi's arm before she could make it two steps.

"What are you doing, Dad?" Chi-Chi asked, glaring forward viciously at the training capsule Vegeta had just re-entered. "Let me go!"

"Sorry, Chi-Chi, I can't let you do that!"

"LET ME GO!" Chi-Chi said. She was at the brink of throwing a large tantrum. 

Bulma nudged Krillin's shoulder. He gave a start.

"Let's go get the dragonballs," she whispered. 

"No," he whispered back. "It's too risky. Vegeta's probably still suspicious. How about later- five o' clock tomorrow morning?"

"Five o' clock!" Bulma exclaimed. Krillin shushed her. "But I need my beauty sleep!"

"Can't you just forget about that for one day?" Krillin said. "You can take a nap when we get back."

Bulma shook her head, tears nearly welling up in her eyes.

"My beauty sleep…" she moaned regretfully. 

****

The next morning…

Vegeta drunk some of the atrocious mouth-cleansing liquid, and rinsed his mouth thoroughly. He spit it out, and rubbed his mouth clean with the outside of his wrist. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. Disgust was evident in his dark eyes. A smile edged with irony appeared on his before disgusted face.

"Humph," Vegeta made a sarcastic sound. "Such a waste of time. I should be training right now. I refuse to grow weak while Kakkarot's strength increases by the minute." That sarcastic smile grew in volume. "One day I will beat you, Kakkarot. You are so foolish with your childish smiles and useless concern for human life. You're nothing but a disgrace to the Saiyan race! _I_ am the Prince of all Saiyans!"

Vegeta slammed his hand down on the bathroom counter, satisfied when the delicate yellow and brown swirled marble cracked under his fist. He stormed out of the bathroom in a cold rage. Well, at least he had six of the dragonballs. When he found the last… Vegeta's hand clenched into a fist. He would become immortal. Frieza would never be able to touch him, and he would see that man writhe in pain. He would see it. 

Vegeta went to check on his six glistening beauties. He left them underneath one of the chairs in his room. He hated that room. It was tiny- meager. A prince deserved more. It consisted of nothing more than a blue carpet, pure white walls that seemed to close one in for the narrowness of the room, and a few pieces of furniture. A capsule room! Vegeta looked at his bed. Oh yes, a prince deserved more. Vegeta's eyes fell on his chair. His eyes widened in shock and amazement, and not because of it's ugly bright red material- he'd already complained about that today. One of his towels was thrown over it, and he could not see the small round shapes of the dragonballs underneath it. Vegeta rushed over to the chair, and pulled away his towel. 

"NOOO!" he cried, angered at the sight of the missing dragonballs. Kakkarot's brat must have…

Vegeta rushed out of his capsule in a fiery rage. He powered up and flew over to the Kame House as fast as he could. It wasn't far- it wasn't far at all. Soon that brat would be feeling pain, and his father wouldn't be there to protect him. Vegeta would have snickered had he not been so angry. 

When he reached the Kame House he kicked the door down, even though it was never locked anyway. He stormed straight to Gohan's room. He busted the door open.

"Okay, where are the dragonballs?" Vegeta demanded. 

Vegeta's eyes widened at the sight of the little runt tucked into his bed, the steady breathing of sleep evident. Vegeta smiled. So he had stolen them the night before and thought that he would get away with it.

Vegeta walked over to Gohan's bed, no hurry in his steps. He studied the boy for a little bit, the rising sun catching the evil light in his eyes. He brought his hand back and…

"WAKE UP YOU USELESS LITTLE RUNT!" 

The boy sat bolt upright, yelling out in pain at Vegeta's hard slap. 

"AHHHHH!" a yellowish light appeared in Gohan's hand. Before Vegeta knew it he was hit by a ki blast so powerful that he slammed into the wall. 

Gohan blinked, startled at all the commotion. 

"I'm going to kill you, you little-" 

"S- sorry, V- V-" Gohan stammered. There were still badges under his eyes from being woken up in such a startling manner.

Vegeta walked up to the frightened child's bed. Gohan's lips trembled as he looked up into Vegeta's eyes. They appeared more like dark coals on flashing flames, right now. Vegeta grabbed the collar of Gohan's pajama shirt and pulled him up so that he was at eye level.

"Where are the dragonballs?" Vegeta asked coldly. 

"The… dra- dragonballs?" Gohan asked in a shaky voice.

"Don't play games with me boy!" Vegeta said, his anger increasing. "Where are they?"

"Leave him alone!" 

Vegeta turned, surprised at the sound of a high-pitched voice coming from the doorway of Gohan's room. His eyes fell on a blue cat-like creature. What was Puar doing here?

"Oh, then what is Yamcha's pet going to do to me?" Vegeta asked, hard irony in his voice. 

"I'm not Yamcha's pet!" Puar said, crossing her arms in front of her chest defiantly. "I'm his friend!"

Vegeta glared at Puar before turning back to Gohan. 

"I- I don't have then!" Gohan said, scrunching his eyes shut as though preparing for a blow. 

__

Hmm. Vegeta thought. _The little brat seems to be telling the truth. But that was impossible! No one else could have possibly taken them except him! _After much delegation, Vegeta let the boy drop back onto his bed. Gohan smoothed out his shirt with shaky hands. 

Vegeta was about to give Gohan a warning that would probably shake his very bones when another thought came to his mind. Kakkarot's earthling friend and that Bulma woman had been acting very strangely. They had gone to search for the dragonball, and… Where were those two, anyway? 

"Curse them!" Vegeta exclaimed, kicking one of Gohan's shoes into the wall. "Curse them all!" 

Vegeta stormed past Puar in a rage. He powered up and flew out of the Kame House at near-unbelievable speed. Oh, he would find them. He would find them and they would pay. He wanted his immortality!

* * * 

"Uh, Chi-Chi, what are you reading?" Krillin asked, hoping to ease the silence that was causing so much tension in the jeep they were driving. 

Chi-Chi glared up at Krillin, an ugly scowl fixed on her face. Krillin put up his hands defensively, but he caught a glimpse of "Rurouni Kenshin" on the cover of the magazine. Krillin raised an eyebrow. He wondered what that was all about. Krillin looked down at the seven dragonballs that were at his feet. It was his responsibility to make sure nothing happened to them. Talk about a very important responsibility! He wasn't made for this kind of stress. Even fighting didn't make him this nervous.

Krillin eyed Master Roshi carefully. Why Bulma had let him sit in the front with her, he didn't know. Her mind must have become fogged with the excitement of making a wish with the dragonball. Krillin shook his head. He was too nervous to be excited. 

Before long, Bulma announced that they arrived at the perfect spot to summon the dragon. The beautiful woods where they had summoned the dragon to wish Yamcha, Bulma's girl-crazy boyfriend back to life.

The group filed out of the jeep. Even Master Roshi, usually a first-class flirt around Bulma, was serious. Krillin collected up all the dragonballs and placed them together on the ground. 

"Oh, this is sooo cool!" Bulma cooed. Her eyes shone with unshed tears of joy. 

"Are you guys sure we shouldn't have brought Gohan?" Krillin asked. "It seems like he should be a part of this. Piccolo, too."

"Piccolo!" Bulma exclaimed in horror. "You mean that ugly green guy? What would he want to wish for?"

Krillin shrugged. 

"I just think he would like to be here," Krillin said. 

"You take your chances while you have then," Master Roshi said seriously. "We haven't got much time. Vegeta's probably already discovered that the dragonballs are missing."

Everybody nodded. Well, all except Chi-Chi. She was absorbed in her magazine, frowning deeply at it. Were those tears in her eyes?

"Can I summon the dragon this time?" Bulma asked, eyes shining.

"Eh-hmm?" Master Roshi interrupted, obviously wanting to summon the dragon himself.

Krillin looked between his two friends, struggling to decide. Actually, Krillin wanted to summon the dragon himself.

"Oh!" Master Roshi said, obviously making himself to sound much more offended than he was. "You'd rather summon the dragon yourself than let your own master-"

"Hey, no offense meant Master Roshi," Krillin said.

"You want to summon the dragon, Krillin?" Bulma asked.

"Well I-"

"You go ahead," Bulma said. Tears were evident in her eyes. "I'll just stand back here and- and… watch."

"Wow, thanks Bulma," Krillin said with a sheepish smile on his face. "I didn't know you could be so nice."

"What do you mean!" Bulma said, her tears suddenly drying up. "I'm always nice!"

"Yes you-"

Krillin gave Master Roshi a warning look. Krillin took a deep breath. He had to make sure he got the words right. 

"Everybody ready?" Krillin asked.

Bulma and Master Roshi nodded. Krillin took another deep breath.

"Eternal dragon, I awaken you."

Within moments, the sky began to change. Lightning flashed brightly and the earth rang with the sound of thunder. The sky began its transition from bright blue to an ill-illuminated black. Thunder continued to crash all around the small group. Krillin turned his eyes back to the dragonballs. He stepped back. The dragon was emerging. Bulma's mouth was wide open in pure astonishment. The dragon stretched out of the center of the dragonballs. It reached far, far into the sky and high above the tiny-sized people below it. 

"WHO HAS DISTURBED MY SLUMBER?" the dragon asked in a loud, booming voice. 

"We want you to grant our wish, Shenlong!" Krillin called up to the massive creature.

The green-scaled dragon looked down at the four humans below it with glowing red eyes. 

"Tell me the wish that I should grant," the dragon called down to them.

"Oh, dang it!"

The sound of Chi-Chi's irritated voice startled them all. Bulma and Master Roshi stared at her. Her face was tear-streaked, but her eyes held the fiery glow of anger.

"Sometimes I wish I could trade Goku for someone better, like- like- the guy in this magazine! Sometimes I-"

Chi-Chi dropped the magazine. She clasped her hands over her mouth, startled at what she had just said. She looked at the dragon, then at her friends. 

"Chi-Chi, what have you done?" Krillin asked incredulously.

"Your wish will be granted."

Chi-Chi, Krillin, Master Roshi, and Bulma stared at the dragon in horror.

* * *

"Okay," Goku said cheerfully as he turned down the gravity in the space capsule. "Time to take a break. Mmmm! I can't wait to get something to eat. I'm starved!" 

Goku wiped his sweaty face with a towel. He'd been training for a long time. He did nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, ninety-nine hundred nine push-ups standing on his hands, seven hundred and fifty-five thousand two hundred crunches, and nearly two million kicks and punches. He'd even done a little meditation. Boy was he hungry! Goku reached for the refrigerator door, but was startled when he saw a magenta colored glow around his arm. 

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked, startled. Wait a minute, the glow was all over him. "W-whoa!" Goku cried as his feet lifted from the ground. "AHHHHH!" Goku cried out as he was pulled backwards at lightning speed. He let out another involuntary yell as he blasted through the door of his space capsule.

Goku went flying through space. He tried to fight the force that was pulling him backwards, but he hadn't gotten time to prepare for this unexpected attack. What was going on? Goku looked around him. He saw stars and asteroids. Yikes! Goku was relieved when he didn't crash into one. 

He continued going. Wait, was that earth behind him? 

"NOOO! THE ATMOSPHERE!" Goku cried. Goku's eyes widened as he neared earth's atmosphere. He closed his eyes, struggling with all his might to fight whatever it was that was pulling him. He felt intense heat all around him as he entered the atmosphere- almost to the point of pain. No, he couldn't die like this. He _wouldn't _die like this…

Goku's eyes burst open as a wave of extreme chill replaced the smoldering heat all around him. He was shocked to see the blueness of earth's sky surrounding him as he continued his plummet downward. He was alive! Goku's joy did not last for long, though. If he didn't fight the thing that was pulling him he would certainly be terribly injured when he hit the ground. 

The ground… it was getting closer every second. Goku could see the trees now. They were little specks the size of ants to his eyes, but they were getting bigger. Goku's eyebrows became drawn down in a frown as he noticed a speck of black on the ground below him. What was that? When the image became clearer, Goku gasped. The dragon… but that wasn't possible! What on earth was going on? Goku readied himself for impact. Any minute now… it was close now- no, _very _close… … … IMPACT!

Wait… there was no impact. Goku was shocked when he landed on his feet. He squeezed his eyes shut, dizzy from his encounter. 

"Goku!" 

Goku's eyes burst open. His eyes immediately fell on the face of his wife. She looked frightened, and tears were evident in her dark, beautiful eyes.

"Chi-Chi? What's going-"

Goku could say no more before he began being pulled again, this time backwards. He barely caught a glimpse of the blackish, purplish thing behind him before he began being absorbed by it.

* * *

Vegeta was had just arrived to the spot where Shenlong, the dragon had been summoned. The blackness of sky around the area had been a dead give-a-way. If he could just make it there in time to state his wish before Kakkarot's friend and those other cowardly humans…

Vegeta's eyes widened as he saw a man in orange and blue training clothes being sucked into what appeared to be a portal. It was black, swirled with deviously dark purple, and gray-pink lightning sparked all around it. Vegeta would have recognized the man being pulled into that portal from a mile away.

"Kakkarot," Vegeta whispered in shock. 

* * *

Chi-Chi looked on in helpless shock as her husband slowly disappeared into the portal. The shocked, almost hurt look on his face when he noticed his wife of over seven years was almost unbearable. Chi-Chi's heart sank deeply when Goku's hand slowly disappeared through the portal. He reached… for her. Chi-Chi yelled after Goku as loud as she could, but obviously, he could not hear her. Chi-Chi looked at the portal, lips trembling. She was about to turn away, when suddenly something caught her eyes. A hand was coming back out of the portal! 

"Look!" She called to Krillin and the rest. 

Chi-Chi looked on, growing apprehensive as an entire body began to emerge out of the swirling pool of darkness. It was not her Goku though- it was a red-haired woman- no, man, actually. He wore a magenta-colored gi, a grayish-white hakama and… he looked like one of the people from her magazine, actually. His startled purple eyes first noticed her, then that red-haired head flipped around in the opposite direction.

"HOLY KAMI!" the man cried at the sight of the dragon. The he fell to the ground, fainting from the shock. 

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Gip-k's Post-chapter Statements**:** -Okay! I finally got that chapter over with. *Sighs deeply and wipes brow* You people hated it, right? You hated that very much. It was very bad, right? Too un-DBZ-like, right? There was everything wrong with it, right? The problem lies in this. I wanted to have an excuse to make it like only Chi-Chi, Krillin, Bulma, Master Roshi, and Vegeta were present to see Goku being sucked into the portal. I know, I know! I used a lot of lousy excuses, but it was necessary. This chapter was _extremely _stressful for me. L I don't even know if it will up-load okay. I'm hoping no one hates me for writing this. I have been deciding on this for days so I guess I'll just smile and say: "Let's see what happens." 

And to all your very poor people who have not seen Rurouni Kenshin… please do! You can find the manga (comic book) at www.rkdreams.com. It's also a fanfiction site so you might want to check out Anna-Neko's work while you're there. J Also, the first episodes of Rurouni Kenshin are available to own on DVD and maybe video.

Okay, now that you're done, please submit a review! I'd be very happy to hear what you think- whether you liked or hated this chapter doesn't matter. I shall continue, if my people wish it. J Bye and thanks for reading! J 


	2. Living in a Zfighters Boots

Sentiments of **gip-k: **-Hello, again, everyone! Here's the second chapter of **"Cautiously Wishing For…"** Are all of you people still alive? Good! You did not die from how shockingly terrible the last chapter was! Okay, I guess I ought to start the story, right?

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Disclaimer: Everyone puts one of these (at least all my friends do). I can't believe I almost forgot it! I mean, that practically gives Watsuki Nobuhiro and Akira Toriyama a right to sue me! I don't have a million dollars! Waah! (I think Watsuki's too nice for that, though) 

Okay, here's how it goes. I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or Dragonball Z so don't go about sending all your fan-mail to me (I would like it, though!). The creators of the two shows are Watsuki Nobuhiro and Akira Toriyama respectively. Both of them are very good writers, and I respect and admire them. They're cool, too! :) 

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---Chapter 2---

Kenshin Himura slowly began to open his eyes. He was greeted by bright, blinding flash of light that caused him to immediately squint them back shut again. Eyes still stinging painfully, Kenshin tried to open them again, but more cautiously this time. 

"He's waking up!" a voice exclaimed loudly. 

Kenshin opened his eyes to a slit and struggled to make out the faces of the people surrounding his bed. 

"I told you we should have put him in the rejuvenation tank. He looks terrible."

__

Rejuvenation tank? Kenshin thought incredulously. _What on earth was that? _

By now, Kenshin was beginning to make out the faces of those around his bed. His eyes first fell on a skimpily glad woman with pale blue hair, then on a tall, ball-headed man with an extra eye on his forehead. 

"This is a dream," Kenshin said groggily. He closed his eyes, determined to chase away the unseemly dream. When he opened them, though, everything was the same. Kenshin sat straight up in the bed, startling the troupe of people around him. He reached for his sakabato with lightning speed- what? It wasn't there!

"What's going on?" Kenshin demanded. "Where am I?"

Memories flooded Kenshin's mind all at once as he asked the question. The last thing he had remembered before he ended up here, was going to the store to do some shopping for Miss Kaoru, the beautiful young owner of the Kamiya dojo, and adjutant master and teacher of the Kamiya Kasshin sword fighting style. He had been walking home from the market, whistling to himself, thinking about how pleased Kaoru would be about how well he had completed the errand she had sent him on. Then all of the sudden, a pinkish glow surrounded him. Kenshin gasped as he was lifted up, high into the sky, at lightning speed. The road below him suddenly became nothing more than a speck on a vast map. Kenshin wanted to yell, but when he tried to, he panicked, and he began sucking in as much breath as he could, which wasn't much at such a high height. He couldn't count how many times he'd tried to cry "Oro!" but he knew it was a lot. Goosebumps formed on his skin as he shivered at the change in the temperature of the air so high up. Kenshin's violet eyes widened when he saw the unthinkable. A swirling pool of darkness ruined the look of the clear blue sky surrounding him. He could feel himself being pulled closer to the evil thing. What magic could have created such a thing? Kenshin reached for his sakabato, but his hand froze on the sword. The same devious power that was pulling him towards the dark pool was keeping him from drawing his sword. Kenshin's eyes widened even more as he neared the horrible creation. Soon he was only inches away from it, and then…

Kenshin blinked, returning to alertness.

"You're in the Kame House, young man, and you have us to think for taking you in."

Kenshin turned to the source of the voice. A short, bald old man with a long white mustache and beard and wearing an oddly colorful short-sleeve shirt appeared to be the owner of the voice. He wore dark black glasses with red rims. 

Kenshin became a little less tense. These were normal people. Perhaps they meant no harm. Kenshin looked at all of the people cautiously. The skimpily clad pale-haired woman! Ooh, goodness! She might as well have been wearing nothing at all. His cheeks grew warm and he quickly turned his face to someone else. The tall man with an extra eye. He seemed to be a friendly kind of man, though his face was grim at the moment. A small child with a white-powdered face and red-painted cheeks sat on his shoulder. Kenshin's eyes moved right towards another man. He seemed younger than the man with the extra eye did. He had short black hair cut in a strange way- not a surprise, though. The people before Kenshin's eyes dressed and acted so strangely that this man fit in perfectly, except for the countless scars on his face and many other areas of his body. Kenshin blinked. None of these people could be real. This had to be a dream. The last person Kenshin's eyes fell on was the only person standing right beside his bed, rather than at the end of it. A small boy with long, unruly black hair that he kept pulled back in a band at the back of his neck. His big black eyes widened when Kenshin looked at him, and he took a few steps back. 

Kenshin remained silent. The strange events that had happened before left him speechless, and energy-wise, drained. 

"Hey, I think this is too overwhelming for the poor guy," the scarred man said to his friends.

"I think so, too," the blue-haired woman said. "He looks terrible." 

The strange people chattered as though Kenshin didn't exist for a long while, then decided that he should be left alone. They all filed out of the door, and the small boy that had been standing by Kenshin's bed closed the door behind them, as he was the last to step out of the room. 

Kenshin let out a sigh of relief. 

"Oro!" he exclaimed. "Those are quite a strange bunch, I say."

Kenshin took his opportunity of silence to look around the room. It had plush blue carpet on the ground, better than he'd ever seen in his life. A fluffy purple thing that Kenshin thought to be a fabric-covered chair sat in the corner of the room, and miscellaneous items like plants and pictures complimented the plain beige walls of the tiny room. 

Kenshin through back the covers of his bad and swung his feet out of the bed so he was in a sitting position. He sure felt okay, so what had happened? How did he end up here? Here, in a strange world where people had scars and extra eyes and women didn't wear proper clothing? How did it happen?

Kenshin did know that something had happened when he had been sucked into that portal, but he just couldn't remember. He remembered snatches, though. He thought he'd seen a… dragon. Hadn't that been a dream? Kenshin buried his face in his hands, deeply confused. Okay, when he uncovered his face, he would discover that all this was just a terrible nightmare and he'd wake up back at the Kamiya dojo, and all would be well. Kenshin uncovered his face and opened his eyes, disappointed to see all as it was before. Could someone have used magic on him? How? What sorcerer had such power?

* * *

Ch-Chi paced back and forth nervously, daring not to open the door of the red-haired Samurai's room. What was her husband, Goku doing right now? Perhaps she should read more of the magazine to find out. No, she couldn't. That danged magazine had already caused enough trouble already. Vegeta had been furious when he had seen what had happened…

__

"You fool woman! How could you have done such a thing! You've wasted all our time and energy! The female specimen and their untamed tongues!"

The last part of that had earned Vegeta a good yelling from Bulma and very nearly a slap as well. Chi-Chi didn't care, though. 

"Oh, Goku," Chi-Chi breathed, tears nearly welling up in her eyes. "How could I have been so cruel?"

Of course Chi-Chi had been very mad at Goku for running off to space and leaving she and Gohan alone on earth, but that was because she loved him. Despite the fact that his bad table manners, ignorance of simple things, and obsession with fighting sometimes annoyed her, she loved and cherished his easy manner, gentleness, and bravery, though the last sometimes took him far away from her. Chi-Chi blushed slightly as she remembered how each time Goku came inside the house through the window instead of the door, tracking his dirty boots all over the place, she had reprimanded him strongly and even hit him a couple times with her beloved broom. Even in times like that, deep in her heart she had been amused by his innocent, almost childish doings. 

Chi-Chi sighed loudly. _All of this is your fault, Chi-Chi. If you hadn't been reading that stupid magazine in the first place, none of this would have happened! _Chi-Chi thought angrily. Chi-Chi gasped, startled to feel a hand on her shoulder. She looked behind her, even more surprised to see Goku's best friend, Krillin. He had had to reach up quite a bit to put that hand on her shoulder, but apparently that didn't matter much to him. 

"Are you okay, Chi-Chi?" Krillin asked.

"Of course," Chi-Chi said, hastily wiping the tears off her cheek. "What are you doing here, anyway?" 

A stupid question. Chi-Chi knew good and well that Krillin was _always _around the Kame House for one reason or another, mostly just friendly visits. 

"I just thought Gohan might need a little company," Krillin said, taking his hand of Chi-Chi's shoulder. He shrugged. 

Chi-Chi nodded. That was right. Gohan didn't really have any friends. Krillin was his only friend. And… his father, too. He was very fond of Goku.

"You know, Chi-Chi," Krillin said. "None of us blames you for all this? It was an accident, wasn't it?"

Chi-Chi was about to say, "Of course, you dim-wit! What do you think?" but she stopped herself. Was it _really _a mistake, or had she meant it every wit and whim? Did she mean to wish her husband away and get a red-haired girly man? Had she… 

Chi-Chi punched her palm with her fist as a sudden wave of determination swept through her. 

"That's it!" she said. "We're going to get Goku back, and we're going to get him back right now!" 

Krillin blinked at Chi-Chi's sudden change in attitude. Was he hearing what he just heard?

"Uh, Chi-Chi?" Krillin asked.

"What?" Chi-Chi said as she turned to Krillin, eyes flashing. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Of course not," Krillin said. "It's just that- uh- what're we going to do with the samurai guy?"

"We'll take him with us!" Chi-Chi said.

"Uh, Chi-Chi, I don't know if that's such a good idea-"

Krillin was too late. Chi-Chi was already marching towards the room that "the samurai guy" was in. She burst open the door, but just as soon, let go of the handle, allowing the door to swing wildly. Smoking black eyes met soft violet and soon both expressions changed. The violet eyes looked startled, where as the dark one simply looked completely dumb-founded. Chi-Chi's mouth stayed half-opened in wonder at the sight of "the samurai guy". _Oh my god! _Chi-Chi thought._ He's… pretty good looking. In fact…_

"Um, milady?" 

Chi-Chi blinked. Oh! The cute-looking guy had spoken.

"Oh, hi."

"Hello."

The silence reigned again. The samurai carried a confused expression on his face. An oddly short, bald-headed man squeezed in between the woman and the doorway. 

"Uh, hi," the man said sheepishly. "My name's Krillin." He gestured to the dark-haired woman who was staring at the samurai so hard that Krillin thought her eyes would bust out. "This is Chi-Chi."

Apparently it was taking Kenshin a while to digest a name like "Chi-Chi", but then he briefly introduced himself. 

"I am Kenshin Himura," he said, standing up from his seat on the bed. He bowed to each of them. "A pleasure to meet you, Krillin. And you too, Miss… Chi-Chi."

Spots of red appeared in Chi-Chi's cheeks. Krillin thought he was starting to go insane. Chi-Chi was falling for this guy? Come on! He'd have to set her straight. Goku was the only one for her. 

"My pardons, but are you the owner of this residence?" Kenshin asked.

"Uh, yeah," Chi-Chi said, finally snapping out of her trance.

"I apologize for putting any burden on you, Miss Chi-Chi," Kenshin said. "I had best be going, now."

"But you can't!" Chi-Chi sputtered.

"My pardons, but why?" Kenshin asked.

"You might not find the world outside the way you would in your own world," Krillin said.

"My… _own _world?" Kenshin asked, eyes narrowing in suspicious. 

"It's a long story," Krillin said. "You have been- er, wished away."

"Wished away?" Kenshin asked incredulously. "How is that possible?"

"As I said, it's a long story," Krillin said. "You see-"

He was interrupted by Chi-Chi kicked him in the leg.

"You must be hungry, uh, Kenshin," Chi-Chi said, quickly pasting a cheerful smile on her face. "Why don't you come to the kitchen? We can explain everything over a nice hot lunch."

"Oh no, this unworthy one has already caused too much trouble," Kenshin replied.

"Oh, stop being silly," Chi-Chi said. "I know you must be hungry. Come on."

With that, Chi-Chi quickly left the room. After all, she didn't have any lunch ready. Krillin shrugged. 

"She's been acting a little strange lately," he said sheepishly. "I guess we'd better follow her."

Kenshin nodded, though he was very confused. Goodness, these people were strange. He had no choice but to follow the short man. 

The walked through the house and towards the kitchen. Kenshin absorbed the new sites and sounds, and scanned the rooms for his sakabato. He would ask about that, later. Kenshin eyes fell on the scarred man, who was walking in their direction with a massive smile on his face. 

"Hey, Yamcha!" Krillin said, greeting the man.

"What's up, Krillin?" the scarred man replied.

"We were just going to the kitchen to eat some lunch," Krillin said. He turned to Kenshin. "Uh, Kenshin, this is my friend, Yamcha."

Yamcha shook hands with Kenshin. 

"I'm Kenshin Himura," Kenshin introduced himself. 

"Yamcha!"

Kenshin's eyes turned to the sound of the high-pitched voice. His eyes immediately fell on a blue cat, and he nearly jumped out of his skin. First a scantily dressed woman, then a three-eyed man, now a _talking _cat? What was this place and how could he get out? 

Kenshin stepped back a few inches when the talking cat neared.

"Hey, Puar!" Yamcha said in a friendly, easy-going voice. Apparently, it was very normal, at least to him, for a cat to speak.

"Who's the guy behind you?" Puar said inquisitively. 

"Oh, his name's Kenshin," Yamcha replied casually. 

Krillin nudged Kenshin's arm.

"Don't worry," Krillin said jokingly. "Puar won't bite." Kenshin's wide eyes remained fixed on the strange creature.

"Oro," he breathed, too shocked for true words.

"Lunch is ready!" Chi-Chi called from in the kitchen.

Puar, Yamcha, Krillin, and Kenshin filed into the kitchen. They sat down in three of the six sturdy, polished red wood chairs surrounding the moderately fancy, medium-sized table. It was graced with a lovely pale green tablecloth. Kenshin felt strange sitting in a chair. He usually sat on mats on the ground. He looked around, his sharp eyes taking in all the strange machines and appliances. Apparently, the Kame House was decorated according to the western style, but it still had some remnants of the Japanese style. The beautiful, yet simple paintings on the wall indicated this.

Chi-Chi walked over to the table, and set the plates of food in front of them. Kenshin felt his mouth begin to water at the irresistible scents wafting from the dishes of hot food. How could Chi-Chi have gotten such good food ready in such a short amount of time? Chi-Chi set delicate plates of beautiful red-pictured China in front of the three hungry men.

"Hey everyone, food's done!" Chi-Chi called at the top of her lungs. 

As soon as the words had left her mouth, Master Roshi, the three-eyed man, and the powder-faced child bustled into the kitchen. They quickly sat down. 

"Okay, everyone, dig in!" Chi-Chi said proudly. 

Kenshin's eyes widened slightly as he observed the outrageous manner in which the people around him devoured their food. Kenshin tried to eat more politely, but when he tasted the beef and broccoli, he was immediately addicted. _Such a refreshment from Miss Kaoru's cooking. _Kenshin thought, but was instantly guilty. He wondered what Miss Kaoru was doing just right now. She might be worried about him, wondering why he never returned from his outing. Kenshin placed his chopsticks down on the table. 

"What's wrong?" Chi-Chi asked, concern evident in her dark eyes. "You're not eating, Kenshin. Did I put too much salt?"

"No, this is none of your fault, Miss Chi-Chi," Kenshin replied quickly. He put on a cheerful smile. "The food is delicious, but… it's a bit hard to explain, you see. My pardons, but I find it very odd that I am suddenly transported into such a strange world, where everyone has disturbingly high ki and animals speak. Do you have any answers to this?" 

"You can sense ki?" Master Roshi asked incredulously. 

"Yes," Kenshin replied. "To a more or lesser extent. My pardons, but I do not see why that should matter any."

Silence reigned for a few moments. Everyone kept their mouth tightly shut, and all eyes looked confused, especially Chi-Chi. 

"Have you ever heard of Shenlong?" Master Roshi asked suddenly. 

Kenshin had lost him now. Had he just gone completely off topic?

"I do not think so, Master Roshi," Kenshin replied carefully. 

"WHAT!" Yamcha said sputtered, splattering a mouthful of food out unto the table. "You've never heard of the dragon!"

Kenshin, startled at the sudden outburst, simply shook his had.

"Hey, be patient with him, Yamcha," Krillin said. "His world's different from ours. I mean, they probably don't even have dragonballs there."

Everyone became silent at that. 

"No dragonballs, eh?" Master Roshi said. "I don't see how that's possible."

"Of course it's possible!" Chi-Chi said. "The dragonballs aren't in the magazine, after all."

Kenshin blinked, confused. 

"My pardons, but what exactly _are _these dragonballs?" he asked. 

That was when the explaining began. Krillin, and the three-eyed man, known as Tien, informed Kenshin of who Shenlong was and what the dragonballs did. 

"And the sky turns all black," Krillin said. "Then the dragon appears out of the dragonballs."

Kenshin listened carefully, mystified. Were these stories true? This had to be a dream.

"So, you are saying, my pardons, I've been _wished _away from my own world?" Kenshin asked. 

"Yep," Tien said. "You're exactly right."

"But, by whom?" Kenshin asked. 

Everyone suddenly shut up. All eyes looked down at their food, frowning. Well, all except Master Roshi, but Kenshin couldn't exactly see his eyes. 

"I did, okay?" Chi-Chi yelled out suddenly. Kenshin turned to her, purple eyes filled with shock. "I didn't do it on purpose!" she cried out defensively. "It was an accident! I didn't mean to, okay?"

Chi-Chi's temper was flaring right now- the defiant look in her dark eyes showed that. 

"But… why?" Kenshin asked, dumbfounded. "How?" 

Krillin reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a dog-eared magazine. He handed it to Kenshin, an apprehensive, yet at the same time sad, look in his soft, dark eyes. 

Kenshin took the magazine from his hands, and looked at it. His eyes darkened at the sight of it. It said "Rurouni Kenshin." He opened it, hands trembling on the paper. His violet eyes frantically scanned the pages. 

"No," Kenshin breathed when he saw what was written in it. His life… it couldn't be. 

"Are you okay, man?" Yamcha asked.

Kenshin looked at him, a graveness causing lines of strain to appear around his disturbed eyes. 

"This is impossible," Kenshin said, a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach as he spoke. "What on earth does it mean?"

* * *

King Kai paced back and forth nervously on his small private planet. His blue antennas stuck up from his small black hat as he searched for Goku's energy. He was tried hard to find Goku's ki, but he simply couldn't. For an entire day, he couldn't discover what it meant. 

"Oh, Goku," King Kai said in an anguished voice. "Where are you?" 

Goku's ki had been diminishing ever since last night, until all the sudden it finally disappeared. He could no longer sense Goku. It was as though he'd been transported into another world… 

Bubbles, King Kai's pet monkey, ran over to him, obviously sensing his master's dark mood. King Kai petted his head affectionately. 

"It's okay, Bubbles," King Kai said softly. "I'm sure everything's going to be okay. I'll contact Piccolo. Maybe he can tell me what's going on."

* * *

Piccolo was sitting cross-legged, floating a good three feet from the ground. He hand his hands folded against each other evenly, and his eyes were closed in meditation. The serious frown on his face marked his flawless concentration. 

__

Piccolo! 

Piccolo's eyes shot open. He did not react any differently, though. He would know the voice anywhere. Not to mention the fact that no one else would be able to speak to him telepathically so clearly. 

__

I hear you, King Kai. Piccolo thought to King Kai dryly. _What is happening? Is there trouble? _

Yes, and it's terrible. King Kai replied. _I can't sense Goku's ki. Do you have any idea what's going on? _

No, I don't. Piccolo replied. _I don't think anyone would have been able to kill Goku so easily. Something else has happened. Are you sure you cannot sense Goku's ki? _

No, it just disappeared. King Kai said, sounding frantic. 

__

I don't know anything about any of this, but it sounds like big trouble. Piccolo said grimly. _Goku hasn't visited earth in quite a while. He's supposed to still be in space. _

He is? King Kai replied. _That's strange, then. Thank you for your help, Piccolo. I'll have to check with Kami. Maybe he can sort out this mess. _

Good idea. Piccolo replied. _I need to head back to Goku's house. Everyone is over there. They would know if something happened to him._

Exactly what I was thinking! King Kai said. _I have to go now. I sure hope Goku's okay. _

With that, King Kai was gone. Piccolo quickly powered up and flew away from his special training spot. He'd have to finish training later. He had to head to the Kame House, and fast. 

* * *

Gohan worked hard at his math problems. Now, what was five hundred and sixty-seven times ten to the eighth power again? Gohan eyes trailed from the work on his desk, and he looked up outside his bedroom window. His eyes widened at the sight of a bright light nearing his beachside home. As the blue light came closer, a smile made it's way unto Gohan's before serious face. He stood up from his desk, and rushed out of his bedroom. 

"Hey everyone, Piccolo's here!" Gohan cried as he rushed into the living room, where Tien and Yamcha were having an arm wrestling match. Their faces brightened and they jumped up from their seats in the living room and rushed to the door. 

Gohan ran into the kitchen. His mother, Master Roshi, and the new guy were sitting at the table talking and looking very serious.

"Hey, Mom, Piccolo's here," Gohan said. He still felt a little ache in his stomach when he looked at her. How could she have wished his dad away like that? Sometimes Gohan had to almost force himself to believe it was a mistake. The red-haired man sitting at the table only dampened Gohan's spirits even more. He was what they had instead of his dad, now.

Chi-Chi turned to Gohan, seemingly surprised at her son's abrupt appearance. 

"Come here, Gohan," Chi-Chi said. 

Gohan suppressed a sigh when he walked over to his mother. She turned him to face the red-haired man and put her hands on his shoulders. Gohan felt uncomfortable with her touching him. How could she be so unashamed of what she'd done? 

"Gohan, say hello to Mr. Himura," Chi-Chi said. "Kenshin, this is my son, Gohan."

"Hi," Gohan said, purposely averting the man's violet-eyed gaze. 

"Hello, Gohan," Kenshin said, a warm smile on his face. "It's nice to meet you."

"Gohan's a little shy," Chi-Chi said jokingly. 

Gohan's cheeks grew warm. Why wouldn't his mother just let him go in peace? She was embarrassing him! 

"Uh, can I go Mom? Piccolo's probably already here," Gohan said. 

"Mind your manners, Gohan!" Chi-Chi scolded. "We have guests!"

Gohan shut his mouth, even though he didn't want to. 

"Oh, it's alright," Kenshin said, waving his hand dismissivily. 

Gohan looked up at Kenshin, surprised. He would have expected this Kenshin guy to say something that would only add to his embarrassment, not let him go. As soon as Chi-Chi released her hands from Gohan's shoulders, he hastily made his escape from the kitchen. 

Chi-Chi rolled her eyes at her son's behavior. Him and that Piccolo man. How could he befriend a man who did nothing but work him like a dog and never smiled about anything except destruction? Not to mention that he had ugly green skin and looked so mean that he could scare any sensible child away in a moment! How Gohan could tolerate the Namekian's attitude was simply not understandable. He even had antennas sticking out of the sides of his forehead. It was awful! At least most of the time he was wearing that _weighted _hat of his. Who wanted a weighted hat? 

Chi-Chi turned her attention back to Kenshin. He looked to be very deep in thought. He was resting his elbow and the table, and holding up his chin in the palm of his right hand. 

"Kenshin."

He didn't answer. 

"Kenshin?" 

Kenshin blinked, looking as though he'd just woken up. He looked at Chi-Chi.

"Oh, I apologize Miss Chi-Chi," Kenshin said. "I was not paying attention. What is it?"

"I was going to ask if you'd like to meet Piccolo now," Chi-Chi said dryly. "I don't know why anybody would want to meet _that _guy, but… you know." 

Kenshin looked at Krillin for answers. His eyes said that he thought that Kenshin should go meet Piccolo. 

"Uh, my pardons, but before we end our conversation, may I ask something?" Kenshin said.

"Sure," Krillin said. 

"Have any of you seen my sakabato?" Kenshin asked, eyes darkening grimly. He did not feel right without his sakabato. 

"What's that?" Krillin asked. 

"It is a reverse blade sword," Kenshin said. "I had it with me when I was… wished away from my world."

"I think I have it," Master Roshi said. 

Kenshin's grim expression lifted.

"You do?" he asked.

"Yes," Master Roshi said. "Let me go get it."

Master Roshi stood up from his position at the table, and walked away. Apprehension filled Kenshin fully as he struggled to wait patiently for the old man's return. He had to force himself not to fidget. Kenshin started drumming his fingers on the table, but he stopped it. Then he started tapping his foot. 

Finally, when Kenshin thought he would burst, the old man returned. In his hands he held Kenshin's prized reverse blade sword. 

"Is this what you're talking about?" Master Roshi asked. 

Kenshin couldn't help but smile.

"Why yes," he said. "That's it."

Master Roshi handed the sword to Kenshin, who took it gratefully. He bowed to Master Roshi five times.

"Thank you for keeping this for me, Master Roshi," Kenshin said. "I cannot express my thanks for your kindness."

"Humph," Master Roshi said, voice filled with irony. "I didn't know you cared so much about that rusty old thing. I almost left it on the sitting on the grass. Some kid would have probably found it and had a lot of fun with it. I figured it was yours, though, so I just picked it up and took it with me."

"I thank you for being so considerate, good master," Kenshin said. "My memories are hidden deep in this sword. It means much to me. To lose this blade in a place like this would have been too much for me."

"Hey, what's so bad about our world, huh?" Chi-Chi asked, her eyes flashing.

Kenshin lifted up his hands defensively.

"Oh, nothing, Miss Chi-Chi," Kenshin said, trying to swerve around the subject. "This world is beautiful. In fact, if such good and kind people as you and your friends are here, then it must not be bad at all."

Chi-Chi's cheeks reddened. Then a moment later she realized a little kissing up had just softened her. 

"Hey! Don't think you can get away from what you said so easily!" Chi-Chi retorted. Kenshin had been getting up from the table, but he froze. "I'll forgive you for now, this time."

"Thank you, Miss Chi-Chi," Kenshin said, looking relieved. 

The foursome went out to meet Piccolo, who'd already been filled in on the yesterday's events. His face looked grim. 

Kenshin was shocked to see the man. He was a good four heads taller than Kenshin, and he had skin as green as a lime rind. His face had a grim expression on it, and it didn't help his appearance one bit. 

"Chi-Chi, do you have _any _idea what-"

"I know it already!" Chi-Chi retorted angrily. "Instead of running to me and complaining, let's do something about it! If I hear one word from your stinky purple-tongued mouth, I'll kick your hide!" 

Piccolo and Chi-Chi engaged in an extremely long staring competition after that. 

"Humph," Piccolo said. "King Kai is talking to Kami about all this right now. We'll have to wait and see what kind of answer they have for why a wish concerning him-" Piccolo pointed a sharp-nailed finger at Kenshin, making him cringe. "-Was granted in the first place."

"Oro!" It was once again all that Kenshin could say. 

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Gip-k's Post chapter statements: -Okay people, what did you think of that chapter? Yes, I know it didn't have any action. That will come in later. Right now I'm just building up on this story. This is going to be a very long story, people, so sit tight and try to stay awake! :) The next chapter will be about how Goku's doing in Kenshin's world! Yes, writing that will be a lot of fun. Sorry if I wasted anybody's time, but please don't be angry. Also note that I made Kenshin talk how he does in the manga. I've read it and watched a good half of the TV show, so everything's cool, right? Please keep reading! :)

Also, I'd like to thank my first three reviewers for reading my story. This is from last to first, people. 

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Female Hitokri Battousai

Okay, fbh., thanks for reading my story, even though I know you're always busy with stuff and you had better ways to spend your time. :)

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LilMako17 

You were my second reviewer, LilMako17, and that makes me very happy! I loved your review and it gave me the extra boost I needed to finish the chapter!

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Dee-Chan

Thank you so much, Dee-Chan, for taking your time to read my story! You were my very first reviewer, and I never got to give you a real thank you for what you did! So, as they say in Japanese, ARIGATO! (Thank you) Arigato times a thousand! I'm glad you like Rurouni Kenshin. That's very cool! Keep liking it forever, and please continue reading this story!

Also…

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Gokaia_Z

Yes, I'm thanking my younger brother again. He hasn't read my story, much less reviewed it, but there should be a tribute to him, anyway. He is always helping me out with this! I don't think I'll ever be able to thank him enough! He's a true DBZ fan- almost more than I am an RK fan. So to anyone who says, you didn't even try to make this story like DBZ- take a hike! 


	3. Walking the Path of the Rurouni

Sentiments of **gip-k**: -Hello again! Welcome to the second chapter of **"Cautiously Wishing For…"**! I'm sooo happy that you guys liked those first two chapters so much! You shall like this EVEN more. I made Chi-Chi so OOC in the last. I can't believe I didn't get a flame for that. You people are too kind. :) Well, anyway, I'm going to change the timing of some events in Rurouni Kenshin to fit the fanfiction. Don't be mad! It's a good change. I have a surprise in store for all of you readers in future chapters, so just read on! How has Goku been fairing? Better than Kenshin, or worse? Did he even… survive? Mwahahaha! We shall see! (Goku frowns at gip-k) 

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Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or Dragonball Z. (Akira and Watsuki say, "You bet you don't!" in unison) I do own this fanfiction though (The two-some frown) and I can do whatever I want! Mwahahaha! Goku, you are mine. (Goku says, "Why are you always picking on me?) 

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----Chapter 3-----

Goku felt himself falling downward at an uncontrollable speed. He struggled to regain his balance, but he couldn't. He needed something to push back against- something very sturdy. He wasn't sure he'd be able to do that anyway, though. Goku looked down, and he gaped. He was about to be smashed through the roof of a building, most likely a house. Since he couldn't regain his balance, he had no choice but to brace himself for impact. 

Goku let out an involuntary yell as he felt his body being smashed through the top of the building with strong force. It slowed his speed down, but since he was too startled to recover, he again smashed into something. He yelled out again. He'd hit the back of his neck on something hard, causing a jolt of pain to shoot through his spine. The only thing he got to see before he was rendered unconscious was the dirty, dust-streaked face of beautiful young woman with dark blue eyes. Those eyes were filled with fright and amazement at the moment. Then after that, everything went black… 

Goku's eyes slowly opened. He blinked, struggling to clear the sleep out of his eyes. He was lying on… the ground? Goku's eyes spied the lit candles in his small room. He sat up slowly. He winced as a slight pain shot through the back of his neck. He rubbed it, a bit surprised to find out that it had been bandaged. He must have gotten hit there. 

"Hmm," he said. "This is strange. I wonder where I am." 

Goku pushed the blankets off him and stood up. He looked at what he had been sleeping on. Some mats on the ground. 

"That's odd," Goku said. "I wonder why the people here wouldn't use mattresses. Oh well, I better find out what's going on." 

Goku didn't really understand exactly what had happened. He scratched his head. Wait a minute, he remembered something. He'd seen Chi-Chi, hadn't he? Yes, he had seen Chi-Chi. Why had her face looked so… sad? She looked scared, too. Goku's face darkened. 

"If it was Frieza, I have to get back there right away," he said. Goku walked over to the sliding doors and pulled them open. He let out a yell, shocked at what he saw. 

Frightened navy eyes clashed with started black ones. 

"That's impossible!" the pretty young lady in front of Goku cried. "You can't be up already!" 

Goku recovered from his shock, and soon was able to see exactly who was talking to him more clearly. 

The woman in front of him wore a purple kimono with pink flowers decorating the hem and the edges of the sleeves. The ribbon that wrapped around it was a deep navy blue that matched the color of her eyes to near perfection. The string keeping the large ribbon in place was yellow. The woman's skin was near flawless, simply adding more beauty to her image. Her long black hair was pulled up and kept in that position by a pink ribbon, and more of her hair came down in bangs over her dark, searching blue eyes. Though she barely reached up to Goku's chest, she had an air of confidence surrounding her, even though, at the moment, she was frightened out of her skin. 

"Who are _you_?" Goku asked.

The young lady blinked, seemingly startled by the question.

"I'm Kaoru Kamiya," she said, still blinking.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Came a deep male voice. "I heardya screaming loud enough to wake the dead."

A tall man appeared. In fact, so tall that he was almost taller than Goku. No, he _was. _He had an easy-going nature about him, though at the moment he appeared a bit concerned. He wore a white coat and white pants, and bandages covered his middle. He had brown hair, some of which came down in strands over his same-colored narrow eyes. A red bandana was his only other accessory. He was extremely thin, but he was muscular, and from the ki Goku was sensing, he had a power level higher than that of a normal human. 

Kaoru flipped around at the sound of the man's voice. Her cheeks had grown red. 

"You shouldn't sneak up on people, you know," Kaoru said bitingly. "I'm fine."

"Then why were you screaming then?" the tall guy said. His glance fell on Goku for a moment. "Macho man here bothering you?"

__

Macho man? Goku thought. 

"No!" Kaoru said, quickly. "And I can protect myself perfectly on my own so why don't you just buzz off, Sano!"

Suddenly, a loud rumble sufficient for that of a large earthquake erupted from Goku's stomach. Yow! He just remembered that he hadn't eaten anything all day. 

Kaoru and the tall guy turned to Goku, surprised. He gave them a sheepish grin.

"Uh, do you have anything to eat around here?" he asked. "I'm starved!" 

Kaoru's eyes widened, but the tall guy just smirked. A warm smile made its way unto Kaoru's face. 

"Sure," Kaoru said. "I can cook something up in no time at all. Make yourself at home while you're here, uh…"

"Goku," Goku said, introducing himself with a sheepish grin. 

"It's nice meeting you, Goku," Kaoru said. She was a bit taken aback by this "Goku's" manners, but she could live with it. "Make yourself at home while you're here. You can stay as long as you like."

With that and another smile, Kaoru hurried off to start her cooking. 

"She's like that sometimes," the tall guy said. 

Goku grinned, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, she reminds me of someone," he said cheerily.

"Well, since the little missy hasn't introduce me, I'm Sanosuke Sagara," the tall guy said. "Sano for short." 

"Well, nice to meet you," Goku said. He looked around his small room. It was decorated with candles and beautiful, yet simplistic artwork. Goku's stomach growled again.

"I hope Kaoru can cook fast," Goku said, slightly despaired. "I don't know how long I can wait for her to finish."

"You don't want to wish for that food," Sano said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "That girl can't cook to save her life."

****

Later… 

Kaoru announced that the food was ready. She was shocked at how fast Goku rushed into the kitchen, Sano not too far behind. She'd cooked a simple meal of rice and, of course tofu. Tofu was the most hated food in the Kamiya dojo. Kaoru didn't know why Sano and Yahiko hated it so much. She didn't think it was that bad.

"Well, we don't get this everyday," Sano said dryly. "A midnight snack. Whatcha do wrong this time, little missy, burn the rice or something?" 

"You watch your mouth," Kaoru said in a bitter tone. 

"Jeez, what's all this racket about?"

Kaoru turned at the sound of Yahiko's voice. Her spiky-haired student, Yahiko Myojin, entered the kitchen, a deep scowl set on his sleepy face. His black hair was tousled, and his clothes were sloppily put on. Yahiko's glaring red eyes soon fell on Goku. 

"Oh, this is the guy that wrecked the dojo," Yahiko said, his tone deeply ironic. "I thought you said you were gonna kill this guy." 

Kaoru blushed, but she gave Yahiko a hard remark.

"Mind your manners, Yahiko!" Kaoru said, her tone angry. "Goku's a guest here and he can stay as long as he likes." 

"Uh, can we eat now?" Goku said, drops of drool making their way down his chin.

"Sure, dig in," Kaoru said, sitting down at the table. 

Goku grabbed the food, and he didn't eat it, he _inhaled _it. His hand was always reaching for seconds almost quicker than Kaoru's eyes could see. Sano was just barely putting the first bite of food in his mouth, when Goku asked.

"Heyareyougonnafinishthat?" 

Sano's eyes widened, but soon a lazy grin made it's way unto his face.

"Hey, looks like Macho man's got an appetite inside him," Sano said, mischief evident in his voice. "You finally got someone who like's your food, little missy." 

"So are you?" Goku asked Sano again, eyes bright with apprehension.

"You can have mine," Yahiko said. "I certainly don't want to eat this old hag's cooking." 

Goku took the plate of food gratefully. 

"So, you like it?" Kaoru asked, a tight, apprehensive smile quickly appearing on her face. Obviously she wanted that answer to be "Yes." 

"Actually," Goku said, swallowing. "It's not too good at all." 

Kaoru's jaw dropped. Sanosuke could sense a storm coming. 

"You're telling me you don't like it?" Kaoru asked incredulously. 

"Well, no," Goku said, doing his usual smile-and-scratch-my-head routine. "I was just so hungry! Haha!" 

"Kaoru Kamiya, adjutant master of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu scores zero," Yahiko said, a devious smirk on his face. 

"How many times do I have to tell you to shut up, Yahiko?" Kaoru demanded, her temper flaring.

"You shut up," Yahiko retorted. 

"I'm warning you Yahiko, say another word and-"

"No problem, _Ugly_, I'm all shut up," Yahiko said, crossing his arms in front of his chest nonchalantly. 

Kaoru looked to be at the point of bursting. 

"Listen here, you little-"

"Hey, Kaoru, aren't you forgetting that you have _guests _here?" Sanosuke said, a smirk on his face. 

Kaoru went red as a beet. 

"Ooh!" Kaoru exclaimed, quickly sitting back down at her seat. "I'm sorry for all that commotion, Goku-"

Kaoru's eyes widened. Goku was _licking _his plate. This was impossible. 

"Um, Goku?" Kaoru asked. 

"Wow, I'm still, hungry," Goku announced after he had licked his plate positively clean. "Are you sure you want that, Sano?" 

"What's this guy got, a hole in his belly or something?" Yahiko asked. "He's eaten all the food on the table, even Ugly's!"

"I did?" Goku asked, sounding surprised. 

Kaoru looked at her plate. Yep, it was completely and totally empty. 

"Oh! Sorry," Goku said a bit sheepishly. 

"It's okay," Kaoru said, a paper smile pasting itself on her face. "I wasn't really that hungry."

__

Over my dead body was I not hungry! Kaoru thought angrily. _Not only that, this jerk had the nerve to tell me my food was bad! I can't believe him! His manners are the most terrible I've ever seen in my life! Kenshin would never act like this… _

Kaoru's face fell at the same time as her heart. Tears nearly forced their way out of her eyes. Kenshin had gone to the market for her earlier that day. He had never come back. The innocent look in his lavender eyes and the warm smile on his face would have suggested anything but that. He'd always promised not to leave them. If he were leaving again, wouldn't he have told them? Wouldn't he have told _her_? Why did no one seem to think it was strange but her? 

Kaoru stood up from her mat on the ground and excused herself as politely as she could muster with her now shaky voice. She walked out of the eating area, and into her room in the dojo, where she would wet her bed with tears. 

"Hey," Sano said, nudging Kenshin in the arm. "The little missy seems pretty upset about something. You do know that you smashed something when you came flying in here, don't you? After the little missy made sure you were _alive_, she started complaining about paying for all the damages."

"Really?" Goku asked. "I didn't really mean to break anything."

"Are you two first class morons or what?" Yahiko asked irritably. 

"Huh?" Goku asked stupidly. 

"What are you talking about?" Sano asked. 

Yahiko rolled his eyes.

"Kenshin never came back from the store, _remember?_" Yahiko asked incredulously. "She probably thinks he's never coming back." 

"What tells you he is?" Sano said. A mischievous smirk appeared on his face. "Kenshin's probably gotten smart and went to find a woman who can cook."

"That's not even funny, Sano," Yahiko said. He smirked. "It's a good way to tease, Kaoru, though." 

Goku, by this time, was completely confused. 

"Who is Kenshin?" he asked, puzzled. 

Yahiko's face lighted up. He was going to have a lot of fun telling Goku about Kenshin. 

"Kenshin Himura was not always known as Kenshin Himura," Yahiko said. "He used to be known as the Battousai." 

"What's that?" Goku asked. 

"Did you hear me or did you not hear me?" Yahiko asked. "I said he was known as the _Battousai._" Goku's blinked, still confused. Yahiko's became irritated. "Are you nuts or something? You've never heard of the Battousai?"

"Uh, no," Goku said. 

Yahiko looked like he was about to go insane.

"Hey, give him a break, kiddo," Sano said. "The guy's probably not from around here. I mean, look at him."

Yahiko looked at him. Hey, maybe Sano was right. Nobody wore those kind of clothes, and orange training out-fit with a blue shirt underneath, and NO ONE kept their hair as crazy as that. 

"So if you're not from around here, where are you from?" Yahiko asked. "Who _are _you, anyway?" 

"I'm Goku Son," Goku said. "My grandpa was a man named Gohan. He taught me how to fight. He died a long time ago, though. I'm a Z fighter. I live in the Kame House, near the beach." Goku looked a little proud at that. "It's a great training spot for anyone. I don't know exactly how I got here, but I need to get home. I have a lot of training to do. All my friends are probably worried about me by now. I need to leave as soon as possible." 

"If you don't know how you got here, wouldn't that mean you don't exactly know how to get home?" Yahiko asked.

"Well, yeah," Goku said. "But if I can get my hands on a capsule ship, I can get home in no time." 

"What on earth are capsule ships?" Sano asked, sounding truly puzzled. 

Goku stared at Yahiko and Sano for a long while. Then he burst out laughing. Everybody knew what a capsule ship was, right? 

"They're ships you fly in, of course!" Goku said, still laughing. 

"Hey, Sano," Yahiko said, nudging Sano in the arm. "I think this guy went totally bananas when he hit his head on the edge of the that table. You think we should throw him out right now?"

"Nah," Sano whispered back. "All that food probably just got to his head. The little missy's food can be near poisonous sometimes."

"Right," Yahiko said. 

Sano and Yahiko both turned back to Goku. 

"Uh, we don't have, uh, capsule ships around here," Yahiko said quickly.

"You don't?" Goku asked, his laughter fading.

"Nope," Sano said. "All we have around here are good old fashioned horse and carriage, and travel by foot." 

"Oh, that's too bad," Goku said. "Well, I'll just have to fly to the next town and see if they have capsule ships there." 

Now Sano and Yahiko _really _thought Goku was crazy. 

"Did you say, _fly _to the next town?" Yahiko asked incredulously. 

"Yeah," Goku said. "I still have to stay here for a while, though. I'm still pretty hungry and I need to regain my energy." Goku stretched out, yawning. "I think I'll probably go to bed, now. I'm already getting pretty tired. Good night." 

Yahiko and Sano mumbled good night back. Goku got up from the table, as he was walking away, he turned back to Sano and Yahiko.

"Uh, are you guys going to a festival or something?" Goku asked. "You're dressed kind of strangely."

Sano raised an eyebrow. _They _were dressed strangely? 

"Uh, no," Sano said. "This is what we wear all the time." 

"Oh, okay," Goku said. "You just sort of reminded me of people in a festival I saw one time or something. Well, see you in the morning." 

With that, Goku walked away. Sano and Yahiko let out breaths they didn't even know they were holding in.

"Yeesh!" Sano said. "That guys pretty weird. I think we should keep an eye on him for a couple days."

"Finally I can agree with you on something," Yahiko said.

* * *

Goku's eyes slowly opened. Inside his room was dim. The only light was coming from his sliding doors, which were covered with a material that looked like wax. The air was full of the smell of candles. Whoops! He'd forgotten to blow them out. Goku stood up from his bed of mats on the floor (A/N: Also known as a futon). He stretched out, yawning away his grogginess. 

"Ah, nothing like a nice sleep," Goku said. 

Goku started getting dressed. He had to hurry. He still had lots of training to do. Boy was he hungry, too! He hoped that Kaoru had cooked more food today. 

Goku pushed his foot into his second boot, then hopped up and walked to the sliding doors, quickly pulling them open. Rays of warm, beautiful sunshine immediately poured into the room. The sound of cheerfully chirping birds and other sounds of nature surrounded Goku as he took a deep breath of the sweet-smelling outdoor air. 

"All right!" Goku said excitedly. "Today's gonna be a nice day for sure!" 

Goku stepped out of his room, taking in all the sites and sounds of the dojo. Bushes hugged close to the buildings, and every once and a while a tree, filled with colorful, singing birds. 

Despite all this, Goku saw something ruining the beautiful, old-fashioned atmosphere. The building in the center of the dojo, most likely the house, had a huge hole in the roof. Had he done that? 

Goku walked through the complex, trying to get used to the place. Then, he spotted Kaoru, sitting down on the ground, her back turned away from him. Now would be a good time for him to apologize for the damage. 

"Kaoru? I'm sorry for tearing the roof of your house," Goku said. He let out a small laugh. "I'm sorry for causing trouble but-" 

Goku paused in mid-sentence. He listened more closely. Yes, he heard sniffling. He ventured a little bit closer to Kaoru. She held something in her hands that he could not yet see. 

"Are you okay?" Goku asked. 

Kaoru started, and turned to him, revealing a tear-streaked face. She rubbed her face vigorously to dry the tears, but the result was that cheeks and nose became positively cherry-colored. 

"Uh, yeah," Kaoru said. She spoke more softly the second time. "I'm fine." She turned back away from Goku. 

Goku wondered if he should just walk away, but something told him to stay. He walked to Kaoru and sat down beside her. She turned to him, but then quickly looked back the other way. 

"Um, uh, do you mind telling me what's bothering you?" Goku stammered nervously, unsure how to express himself. Surprisingly, Kaoru broke down into tears, and looked up into his face. 

"You wouldn't understand," Kaoru said, her dark eyes filled with pain and anguish. "I- I miss him so much. I don't know why he'd leave. You- you just wouldn't understand." 

Kaoru's knuckles whitened as she squeezed the object in her hand. Goku glanced down at it. It was a black and white, or rather, brown and white photo. It showed Sanosuke, standing as stiffly as a stick, Yahiko sitting down calmly with a grin on his face, Kaoru doing much the same and… another person who Goku was not familiar with. 

"Is that him?" Goku asked, pointing the picture.

Kaoru started, and looked down. 

"Yeah," she said, sniffling. A small smile appeared on her face. "That was when we went out of town to ride the train. It was a lot of fun." That smile once again disappeared, and Kaoru's mouth tightened. Her lips began to tremble. Once again she was probably about to start crying again. 

Goku awkwardly began patting Kaoru on the back. He put on a warm smile.

"Oh, come on, Kaoru," Goku said, trying to sound soothing. "I'm sure it can't be that bad. I mean-" Goku stopped when Kaoru began shaking, and fresh tears streamed down her cheeks. 

"It is," she said in a strained voice. "He's… never coming back." 

"Sure he is!" Goku said, grinning. "He doesn't look like too mean of a guy, and he's so shabby he'll probably be coming back from being so hungry." 

Kaoru looked up at Goku. 

"Oh, he is a very nice guy, Goku," Kaoru said. She let out a little laugh. "I don't think he'd be coming back from just sheer hunger, though." 

There was an odd silence between the two, and Kaoru turned back away, eyeing a small sparrow playing in one of her trees.

"Um, Kaoru?" Goku said. "I nearly forgot to tell you I'm sorry for making that hole in your roof. I-"

Kaoru snorted. She waved her hand dismissivily. 

"Bah! That's nothing," Kaoru said. "The dojo has gone through worse." 

"So, that means I don't have to pay you for the damages?" Goku asked hopefully.

"I don't care," Kaoru said glumly. 

Goku scratched his head. Well, that was odd. According to Sano, Kaoru kept a tight lid on her money. 

"Wow, this Kenshin guy seems to have really got you down," Goku said. "Maybe you should go and look for him."

"He doesn't want to be looked for," Kaoru said. "He never wants to see me again." 

"Why?" Goku asked. "If you and him were planning to get married-"

"I never said that," Kaoru said, looking embarrassed. 

"Well, how do you know he doesn't want you to look for him?" Goku asked. 

"I just know, okay?" Kaoru said, sounding a little bit agitated. She lowered her voice. "He's a rurouni- a wanderer. He said- he said he might leave at any time. I was stupid to think that he would stay forever."

Goku was amazed. _Amazing. She's just like Chi-Chi. Women are always getting angry and depressed over everything. I wonder why? Maybe I should ask? _Goku thought. _Thinking of Chi-Chi, I need to hurry up and get back home. She'll probably get VERY mad at me if I don't. If I get home fast, maybe I can surprise her. Then she'll be too surprised to be angry. _Goku smiled. Yep, that was a good idea.

"Um, Kaoru, I need to leave now," Goku said. He put on a sheepish grin. "Chi-Chi's probably already mad at me by now."

"Who's Chi-Chi?" Kaoru asked, snapping out of her trance for a moment.

"Oh, she's my wife," Goku said, smiling. 

"WHAT!" Kaoru exclaimed. "You're married?"

"Sure, yeah," Goku said, nodding. 

"Then what are you doing here?" Kaoru asked incredulously. 

"I don't really know," Goku said, shrugging. "I'm trying to find my way back home. Do you know what the nearest town is called?"

"We live here in Tokyo," Kaoru said, her shock leaving and once again revealing her inner emptiness. 

"WHAT!" Goku exclaimed. It was his turn to be hysterical. "That's impossible. This dojo's in the middle of no where. Tokyo is big and crowded. There's no way a city like that can have room for you!" 

Kaoru blinked.

"No, I'm pretty sure," Kaoru said. "We live in Tokyo." 

Goku scratched his head. 

"I don't know," he said. "I don't think they could have moved all the buildings and stuff this fast." 

"Are you sure you're all right, Goku?" Kaoru asked. "You hit your head pretty hard."

"Oh, I'm fine," Goku said, smiling. "I'm just hungry." 

"Hungry!" Kaoru exclaimed. Then her face fell. "Oh yeah. I forgot to cook breakfast. I'm sorry, Goku. I've just been a little… disoriented lately."

Goku had no idea what disoriented meant. It sounded quite terrible, though.

"Maybe you should go see a doctor," Goku said. 

"No!" Kaoru said, her voice a bit rough. "I don't need a doctor. I'm fine." 

* * *

Sano was peaking from around the corner, watching Goku and Kaoru talk. Any closer and he'd definitely be seen.

"Yeesh!" Sano whispered to himself. "What the heck are they talking about? It sounds important to me." All Sano had seen was Goku trying to cheer Kaoru up, then some talking, them some looking surprised, then some more talking.

"Hey, what're you doing?"

Sano gave a start. He flipped around to see a sweat-drenched Yahiko standing beside him. He held his shinai in his right hand, and was resting it against his shoulder. 

"Shut up, wouldya?" Sano said. "They'll hear us." 

"Who's they?" Yahiko said, walking up to the place where Sano stood. His eyes widened at what he saw. "Is that Kaoru, there?" 

Sano nodded.

"Yep," he said. "Macho man must have a way with women or something. Do you think Kaoru's falling for him?"

"Are you an idiot or something?" Yahiko asked. "I thought Kaoru was crazy, but you are just on a completely different level of stupidity."

"It looks like the brat of all time has just gotten smart," Sano said dryly.

"I've always been smart," Yahiko said. "At least smarter than you. An idiot like you just can't see to see anything that's right in front of his eyes, can he?"

"Just say what you're going to say, okay?" Sano said threateningly. 

"I can't believe you!" Yahiko exclaimed. "Can't you see that Kaoru's totally fallen for Kenshin? Not only is he the only guy for her, but she's hopelessly in love with him." 

"She doesn't look very hopeless to me," Sano said, watching carefully how Kaoru laughed when Goku said something. 

"You're right," Yahiko said. "That's just because somehow this Goku guy has gotten Kaoru to stop thinking about Kenshin."

"That's because she's falling for him!" Sano said.

"Women are just all screwed up," Yahiko said. "One second they're happy, then the next they're sitting down crying over something. They're never stable." 

Sano snorted.

"And you think you know more about women than I do?" Sano exclaimed. "You're just a little brat, who wishes he were older, that's what you are. You just said the biggest load of bull I've heard in a long time."

"Oh really?" Yahiko said, reddish eyes flashing. "Maybe you should listen to yourself more, then." 

Both Yahiko and Sano froze when they heard Kaoru calling them. 

"Sano! Yahiko!" Kaoru called. "We're going to the Akebeko for lunch, so hurry up and get ready!"

"See, what'd I tell you?" Yahiko said. "One minute Kaoru's all- 'I want to be alone 'cause I'm all sad,' and the next minute she's all, 'I'm happy! Let's go out!'"

"Give it a rest, will you?" Sanosuke said, sensing in Yahiko a willingness to argue. 

"Likewise, buddy," Yahiko said, his tone sarcastic. "Your head appears to have taken some heavy damage." 

"YAHIKO! SANOSUKE!" Kaoru called again. 

Yahiko and Sano looked at each other. 

"Later," they growled in unison. Then they turned in opposite directions in a hurried off to get ready. After all, they _were _hungry. Visits to the Akebeko didn't come all the time.

________________________________________________________________________________

****

gip-k's Post Chapter Statements: -I know, people. You are extremely mad at me for ending the chapter like that. I left a cliffhanger ON PURPOSE. Well, not only did I not want the chapter to be too long, but I wanted you guys to have to keep guessing what Goku's going to do when he discovers he's in a world other than his own. Don't worry! There's a bonus up ahead… a SECOND chapter! Yes! Usually when I update, it's one chapter at a time, but I thought that was too sluggish and a bit mean so I decided to fill the hunger of my "fans" by giving them a double portion of happiness. Peace to all!

Once again, I'd like to think all my wonderful reviewers (bows to each) for continuing to support my work! I'd give some special thanks, but I guess those shall come in the next chapter. Cheers! 


	4. Learning

Sentiments of **gip-k: **-Here's the fourth chapter- the surprise bonus. :) I'm being fair to Goku and Kenshin equally. (for now) This is Kenshin's chapter. For any who see the rurouni, give him my love! :) You'll all get to see what's happening. Not to worry. This chapter will have less building of the atmosphere and a little teeny bit more of the core story. :) The twist and turns haven't arrived yet, but they shall. I fear I screwed up a little with the timing even though Gokaia_Z helped me, but I guess I'll have turn it around for the best. This _is _fanfiction, I guess. :) You rule the characters' destiny here. (Goku and Kenshin don't look too happy about this) 

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****

Disclaimer: I don't own RK or DBZ. How many times do I have to say it? I don't think Akira and Watsuki would really sue me (looks around nervously) for I am but a thirteen-year old. So, if I must beg… please don't sue me, for I am innocent! I am but a meager fan!

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****

----Chapter 4----

Meanwhile, as Goku was about to have a nice lunch at the Akebeko, Kenshin was staring on in horror at the man before him. Kenshin's hand clutched his sword. Though this… creature, or sorts had disturbingly high ki, as did all the rest of the people in the room, Kenshin was prepared to do what he had too. Then suddenly, Chi-Chi's eyes widened, and then closed. Kenshin's own eyes darted from Piccolo to the others. The look in their eyes portrayed extreme concentration. Kenshin blinked. Could they hear something that he could not? He'd always thought his own ears to be very sharp. 

"So that's it-" Yamcha exclaimed, but was shushed by all the rest. 

Kenshin's alert violet eyes narrowed. What was going on? The silence put a tenseness over the entire room. Kenshin's alertness began to increase. He could even hear the sounds of birds chirping outside. He'd removed his hand from off his sakabato, but his fingers itched to touch it again. Something was wrong, that it was. Suddenly, Chi-Chi's eyes fluttered back open, and all the other's snapped out of their intense concentration. All eyes turned to Kenshin. Silence.

"My pardons, but is something wrong?" Kenshin asked. 

"No," Yamcha said quickly. "Things are just starting to clear up."

Kenshin raised an eyebrow as a signal that he was questioning that remark. 

"We found out why you're here," Krillin said excitedly. 

"Kenshin, do you remember the magazine that Chi-Chi was reading?" the blue-haired woman asked. Kenshin looked at her. He was relieved to see that she was now wearing a red jacket over her sleeveless, shoulder-baring blue shirt.

"Yes," Kenshin said grimly. "I doubt that I could have forgotten something so disturbing in such a short time." 

"Kami said that that magazine was our glimpse into your world," Piccolo said, looking extremely serious. Kenshin hadn't known he could look more serious than he had been already. 

"Excuse me?" Kenshin said, not grasping what the green man had said. 

"Your world is in an alternate universe than ours," the blue-haired woman said, sounding excited. "Both universes are simply two differents threads in the fabric of… time itself! It seemed that the universes had been somehow interacting with eachother, thus affecting the minds of those unaware of the differences. The man who created that magazine, was subconsciously creating the story of a certain period of time in your universe. He had no idea that it truly existed. I don't know about you but I think that's truly amazing! And to think that you've actually traveled between the universes! It's wonderful, isn't it? You've even actually made it here in one peace! Let me ask you a few questions-"

"Uh, Bulma," Krillin said, sounding sheepish. "I don't think Kenshin's ready to be asked all those questions."

"Krillin!" Bulma scolded. "Don't you want to know about the galaxies beyond, the universes, and what your place in the fabric of time is?" 

"Uhhhh, no?" Krillin said, half-asking, half-telling.

"Enough," Piccolo said in an especially gruff voice. "We need to find the dragonballs, and wish this… Kenshin guy back where he belongs. We also need Goku back, too. Frieza could be coming back here any minute, and he needs to be ready. We all need to be ready."

"Are we going to use earth's dragonballs again?" Krillin asked. 

"No," Piccolo said. "It will take us forever to find those dragonballs. Not only that, but Shenlong might not have enough power to grant our wish."

"Yeah right!" Bulma exclaimed. "If Shenlong had enough power to transport them through the universe once, I don't see why he can't do it again." 

"You've proved my point exactly, Bulma," Piccolo said grimly. "Shenlong might not be powerful enough to do something as drastic as transporting Goku and Kenshin between universes again. Trying to find the dragonballs here and then discovering that Shenlong cannot grant our wish would be wasting valuable time and energy. We should go to Porunga."

"Porunga!" Tien exclaimed. "But he's all the way on Namek!" Tien exclaimed.

"Exactly," Piccolo said. "That's more reason for us to go there right away. He's more powerful. We'll have three wishes there, and not only that, we'll be able to wish that none of this ever happened." 

"That none of it ever happened?" Krillin exclaimed. "But that's crazy!" Piccolo and the other's stared at Krillin. He contineud in a calmer voice. "But if we wish that none of this ever happened then- wouldn't that be even more dangerous than simply telling the dragon to switch them both back? Not only that but it seems… wrong. Come on, Piccolo. Are you sure that's such a good idea?" 

"Considering that fact that I regret ever having to come here, then yes," Piccolo said dryly. "I certainly wish that Chi-Chi had never spoken those words." 

Chi-Chi's eyes flashed, but Kenshin knew that she was hurt inside. 

"Why was I not invited to this gathering?" 

Everyone moved out of the way of the door, admitting the Prince of all Saiyans into the cramped room. 

"Hey, Vegeta!" Krillin said, nervously greeting the stubborn Saiyan. 

Vegeta, as usally said hello to no one. He looked around the room, from Bulma, to Piccolo, to Yamcha, and so forth, until finally his alert black eyes fell on Chi-Chi.

"Well if it isn't Kakarot's loose-tongued wife," Vegeta said. His voice dripped with sarcasm. "Kakarot's own wife of almost ten years, suddenly decided that she didn't want him anymore, so she wished him away in order to get-" Vegeta's dark, devious eyes fell on Kenshin. Surprisingly, he burst out into waves of evil laughter. 

No one in that room was without either wide eyes or a gaping mouth. All except Kenshin. 

"My pardons, but what do you find to be so humorous?" Kenshin asked. 

Without warning, Vegeta's face became serious. 

"It's simply the fact that Kakarot's own wife- or any woman for that matter, would ever even consider looking at a man as weak and pathetic as you," Vegeta said. "All females are without common sense." 

"HEY!" Bulma said, raising her hand to hit Vegeta on the head as hard as she could. Without even looking, Vegeta grabbed her hand just as it was about to slam down on his head. He stared at Bulma with angry eyes the color of kindling coal.

"What do you think you're doing, woman?" Vegeta demanded. "You dare raise a hand against the Prince of all Saiyans?"

"Let me go!" Bulma exclaimed. "You're nothing but the Prince of selfish pride for all I care!" 

"Hey!" Yamcha said, stepping up a little. "Let her go!"

Chi-Chi looked at Kenshin. Why was he watching the situation so calmly?

Vegeta stared at Yamcha for a long while, then let Bulma go, but more softly than Chi-Chi had expected. In fact, almost gently.

"Well, are all of you going to sit around like hogs or what?" Vegeta asked. "What's going on?" 

Piccolo and Krillin filled Vegeta in on what's going on.

"Humph," Vegeta said, voice as ironic as usually. "So we're going to get Kakarot back? I see." A crooked smile appeared on Vegeta's face. "Well, I never got to settle the score with him. He's not getting away that easily." 

"Who, may I ask, is Kakarot?" Kenshin asked.

The fighters, seemingly having forgotten that Kenshin even existed, turned to him. 

"He's the one all of _them_-" Vegeta momentarily turned to all the others. "-Call Goku. It's not his true name. He has Saiyan blood in his veins, but he refuses to recognize it. He would rather be an… _earthling _like all the other weaklings in this room." 

Kenshin kept his eyes fixed on Vegeta. This was a man who hid his weakness by using pride and strong words. He obviously did not like being weaker than others- especially this Goku man. _Hmmm. _Kenshin thought. _He's one of these… Saiyans, whatever they are. He tries to hide his weakness by faining strength. He tries to use anger to hide love. Hatred to hide fear. Sarcasm to hide kindness and gratefullness. He must have gone through a hard life, I say, and that hard life has in turn hardened him. I admired his determination, though. His ki is quite high, and he is alert all the time. The only way to catch him off guard is to say the thing he least expects. Kind words, praise of his character. He doesn't seems to have forgotten exactly what kindness is, since for a long period of his life it was never shown to him-_

"What are you staring at, earthling?" Vegeta said in threatening tones.

"Oh, I apologize," Kenshin said quickly. "I was very deep in thought." 

"Good," Vegeta said, sounding satisfied. "I won't except insubordination from someone like you." 

"Of course not," Kenshin said, trying to look humble. "I have no desire to argue or fight, that I do not." 

"That sword that you keep at your waist," Vegeta said. "Do you know how to use it?" 

"My pardons, but I must say that I know how to use it very well, according to most people," Kenshin said, giving a small smile. "However, I prefer not to fight. This sword does not kill, that it does not. It is a reverse blade sword. The moves I have learned using this sword would normally kill instantly, but on a sword on which the blunt side of the blade is the one a person is using, it can only cause injuries, I say."

"A sword that can't kill?" Tien asked, sounding surprised. "Why would you want to do that? I mean, what happens if someone you care about gets killed? What are you going to do?" 

Kenshin's eyes brightened. And he held his head high, but not in pride, but with a strong sense of justice and righteous vigor. 

"I bear this sword to keep things like that from happening, I say," Kenshin replied. "I have decided not to take mens' live, that I have. I don't think it's right when the weak, who are simply trying to live a happy, and prosperous life, suffer needlessly at the hands of those who are strongen than they. That is why I have decided to become a wanderer. My goal is to protect the weak, and to ensure their happiness and safety. The sword I bear is a sword that protects life, not a sword that takes it away." 

Silence reigned for a few minutes as all the people in the room looked on at Kenshin in wonder and amazement at his short, yet very strong and honorable speech. 

"That's… wonderful," Bulma said, her eyes watery with tears of ectasy. 

"Wow, I didn't know you had such a high moral code," Krillin said in amazement. 

Kenshin looked embarassed. 

"This unworthy one is doing naught but to repent for the pain he has caused others," he mumbled, blushing. 

"Ooh!" Bulma exclaimed. "He blushes, too! What a cute guy!"

Chi-Chi looked at Kenshin in raw awe and amazement. Their eyes met for a second, and Chi-Chi quickly turned away, blushing. 

"I can't believe you all!" Vegeta said. "You didn't listen to a word he said!"

"No, _you _didn't hear a word he said," Yamcha retorted. 

The praise continued until Vegeta's rage had built to the point that he had to shout. 

"SILENCE!" he cried. Everyone looked at him. "Don't you see?" Vegeta asked incredulously. "This man has stated unashamedly, that if someone killed his family, he would not avenge them. He would simply… not kill! The very thought of that is absurd! He's only one man! He's a meager earthling, at that! He cannot stop any of his friends, whoever they are, from getting hurt. All his protecting of the innocent is nonsense, as well! I know very well myself. If you do something for a person, especially these _earthlings, _the go on about their lives without a word of thanks! Is it worth it? Is a stupid moral code worth dying for? Is it?" 

The faces of all those hearing Vegeta's statement dimmed with every word. 

"Hey, listen Veg-" Yamcha began. 

"No, you listen!" Vegeta exclaimed. "If Frieza were to come here right now, and blast all of us to bits, and this… _Kenshin _of a man had a chance to destroy him, he wouldn't! He just wouldn't!"

"Vegeta, why the heck do you have to act like such a jerk all the time?" Bulma asked, fire in her bluish eyes. "Every time someone says something you don't like, you beat it down!"

"I was going to say the same of you, _Bulma_," Vegeta said. 

Bulma and Vegeta got into a massive argument until Piccolo told them both to be quiet. Though they continued to glare at eachother, they both shut their mouths. 

"Now, I say we head off to New Namek as soon as possible," Piccolo said in his usual gruff and stern voice. "I'll give everyone five days to prepare." 

Kenshin cleared his throat loudly. Piccolo's eyes roved over to Kenshin. 

"My pardons, but perhaps I could be of some assistance on this journey," Kenshin said, his face serious.

"You do know that this journey is extremely dangerous," Piccolo said. "Frieza could appear out of no where at any time. Goku professes to have destroyed him, but you can never be too sure about that man. His heart is evil, and he would never accept defeat no matter the costs, and no matter the way he went about it." 

"I fear neither death nor pain, Piccolo," Kenshin said. "If this… man, is any danger to innocent people, then I will do whatever I can to prevent him hurting people any more." 

"There should be absolutely no doubt in your mind that he's a danger to the innocent," Piccolo said in an especially bitter voice. "He's a ruthless monster. He doesn't even care who he is killing, women, children; they're all nothing but little pests in his demented mind. All he's ever caused in his lifetime is pain and sorrow, and he's…" Piccolo's mouth wrinkled in disgust. "Proud of it." 

"This man is one who must be stopped," Kenshin said, his purple eyes darkening. 

"It's impossible to keep evil contained," Tien said grimly. "It just keeps popping up everywhere."

"Yeah," Yamcha said. "Even if it's not Frieza who attacks us, it could be something else. This trips really dangerous. Are you sure you wanna do this, Kenshin?"

Kenshin smiled warmly.

"I appreciate you're concern, Yamcha," Kenshin said. "However, I cannot allow someone like Frieza to continue hurting people." 

Everyone in the room nodded.

"Oh, I guess I'll just be here _all _alone," Chi-Chi said, sounding depressed.

"No way can you come, Chi-Chi," Krillin said, shaking his head. "It's far to risky."

"Then how come Bulma can go, huh?" Chi-Chi said, glancing momentarily at the blue-haired woman. "I'm a lot stronger than her!"

"No you're not!" Bulma said. "I've gone through way more than you have! I'm six years older, remember?"

"That doesn't mean you're more mature!" Chi-Chi yelled.

"Yes I am!" Bulma retorted.

"No you're not! I am!" Chi-Chi said. 

The two glared at eachother so hard that it almost seemed like lightning would sudden begin flashing in the distance. 

"Bulma's allowed to accompany us because we need her to fly the ship," Piccolo said. 

Bulma nodded, satisfied. 

"Not only that, but Bulma has someone to look after her," Yamcha said, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder.

"That's right," Bulma said, smiling up at him. 

Chi-Chi stood there, fuming so hard that Kenshin could almost feel the heat. 

"Um, Miss Chi-Chi, my pardons, but your responsibility is here, I say," Kenshin said, smiling warmly. "You have a son here to take care of, that you do. And I'm sure your husband would be happy if he found you here safe and sound, I say." 

Chi-Chi whacked Kenshin on the head so hard that his eyes became as big as saucers. 

"ORO!" Kenshin cried as he bent under the pain. 

"Don't get smart with me!" Chi-Chi said. "You just don't want me to come! And why the heck do you keep saying "Oro" all the time?"

"Oro?" Kenshin asked.

"THERE YOU GO AGAIN!" Chi-Chi yelled. 

"Leave the man be, woman," Vegeta said, an evil smirk present on his face. "He's far to weak of a person for you to pick on. He's like a mere child."

Chi-Chi glared at Vegeta with angry eyes. 

"I suppose you seem to think you're so tough, huh?" Chi-Chi asked angrily. "I'm sick of all your stinking pride! I swear, it's time you've gotten a lesson taught to you!"

Chi-Chi began walking over to the deviously smirking Vegeta with the intention to beat him up really good. Kenshin grabbed her arm just in time.

"Uh, Miss Chi-Chi?" he asked sheepishly. "My pardons, but haven't we had enough quarrels for one day?"

Chi-Chi glared at Kenshin, and he released her arm. However, to the relief of all that were in the room, she stepped back and simply defiantly crossed her arms in front of her chest. 

"Well, I'm going to start doing some training," Yamcha said, stretching out a little. "You said five days, right Piccolo?"

Piccolo nodded. 

"Well, I guess I'll do some training too," Tien said, nodding in agreement. "You coming, Chiaotzu?" 

"Sure!" said the white faced child. "Let's go!"

"Hey, wait up, Yamcha!" called Puar. 

The group of four headed out the door. Gohan looked up at Piccolo.

"Are you training too, Piccolo?" Gohan asked. 

"I might as well," Piccolo said, smiling. Kenshin didn't even know the guy could smile. 

"Hey, just you wait a minute!" Chi-Chi said, putting her hands on her hips. "You're not going anywhere, Gohan! You've got a ton of homework to do. Not only that, but you don't even want to keep your poor mother company! You should be ashamed of yourself."

Gohan's face fell.

"Come on, Mom," he said, a pathetic look on his face. "Can I please go? I want to see Dad!"

"Let the child go," Vegeta said, smirking. "He needs training."

"Since when did you have an opinion?" Chi-Chi demanded. 

Vegeta only continued to smirk. 

"Come on, Gohan," Piccolo said. "You haven't trained in quite a while."

A happy smile appeared on Gohan's face and he rushed out the door behind Piccolo. 

"May I be excused, Miss Chi-Chi?" Kenshin asked.

"NOOO!" Chi-Chi yelled. 

"Oh, let him go," Bulma said, giving Kenshin a playful grin. "He can't be all talk and no power, can he? Let's see what he's made of!"

Chi-Chi sat there fuming, and Kenshin hurried out the door. He was completely and totally shocked at what was unfolding before his eyes. 

Tien and Yamcha were near the shoreside, floating a good thirty feet above the ground. They exchanged numerous kicks, punches, and counters. Kenshin gaped. They were going quite fast; anyone without eyes at least as good as his would not be able to see everything. Chiaotzu was shooting yellow-colored blast out of his _hand _and into the sea. To make matters worse, Piccolo was standing on the ground, easily blocking punches directed by him from Gohan, who was floating above the ground to match his height. 

"Oro," Kenshin breathed. 

"Ha!" Vegeta said, walking up beside Kenshin. "I'm sure you've never seen such things in your entire pathetic life time, weakling." 

"They're using, magic…" Kenshin breathed.

"Not magic, you fool," Vegeta stated. "They're using ki."

"But, they can… fly," Kenshin said. "That's impossible." 

"No it's not," Vegeta said. "Don't make foolish assumptions." 

"You can fly, as well?" Kenshin asked, shocked.

Vegeta sniffed. 

"Of course!" he said, annoyed. "Show me a little of what you can do."

"Uh, my pardons, but I prefer not to compete."

"Did I ask what you liked?" Vegeta asked. "Come race against me, and let us see who wins." 

As Vegeta asked this, he was certain that he would be the winner. _Humph. _He thought. _This man can't run a mile before getting tired. He's just a human. I'll be the winner of this race, for certain. If this… Kenshin thinks he is somehow equal to me in some way, he will soon be taught complete humility. I sense pride from him- he should be quite afraid of me, but he isn't. No one goes against the Prince of all Saiyans and wins! _

"If you insist, I shall do as you say," Kenshin replied, his face growing serious. "What are the rules?" 

"There are trees in front of us and behind us," Vegeta replied. "In between, there is sand. That will be our racing spot. I will promise not to power up during or before this race." Vegeta smirked. "I should be able to defeat you easily."

"Perhaps," Kenshin said, smiling slightly. "But not as easily as you think, I say." 

"Let's go to the edge of the trees behind us, then," Vegeta said, his crooked smile growing in volume. "After that, the race begins."

Kenshin nodded. 

"Listen up, everyone!" Vegeta called. Piccolo, Gohan, Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu all stopped their training. Vegeta looked satisfied. "Kenshin and I are having a little race. Stay out of the way, or else you will no doubt get seriously injured. I'm not going to use any energy. Uh… well, Yamcha, you look like good enough of an umpire to me. You should declare the winner. I'll have no mistakes from you." 

Yamcha nodded. All the others beamed with excitement. Piccolo looked at them with serious faces. All the Z-fighters flew up to the sky to avoid getting in the way, and Kenshin and Vegeta walked to the edge of the forest. 

"All right, on my mark, we'll start the race," Vegeta said. "Remember, I promise not to power up." Kenshin nodded. Vegeta grinned. "I'll even give you a head start." 

"I'm not certain you want to do that, I say," Kenshin replied, smiling. 

"Well, since you seem so confident, I won't," Vegeta said, his smile widening. "All right. On my mark, you can start the race. On your mark. Get set… go!"

Kenshin dashed on a head so quickly that Vegeta momentarily stood there, stunned. He muttered a quick "Blast him" under his breath, and then hurried off to catch up. The world became a blur around him as he ran as fast as he could without powering up. He could see Kenshin not too far ahead of him. _Curses! He's a bit faster than I thought. Humph! Not fast enough to beat me, though. _Vegeta thought. He started running faster. He hardly had to break a sweat. He was catching up to Kenshin. Closer… closer… aha! Vegeta was now at the same pace as Kenshin. Those purple eyes roved to Vegeta temporarily, widened, and then turned back to the road. Vegeta became surprised and angry when Kenshin began to run even _faster. _Vegeta cursed under his breath and tried to catch up. He wouldn't lose this race. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not catch up, and Kenshin was getting farther and farther away as each second passed. Vegeta could see the finish line. _NO! I won't lose! _Vegeta thought, and suddenly he felt a new burst of energy that sent him sailing past Kenshin at lightning speeds. He slowed down, for the finish line was not too far away. He skid to a stop, spraying sand everywhere. Kenshin reached the finish line only seconds after him.

"Vegeta is the winner!" Yamcha called.

Vegeta gave a satisfied grunt.

"Wow!" Gohan yelled excitedly. "Those two were moving so fast I coud hardly see them!"

"Wow! I didn't know Kenshin was that fast!" Tien exclaimed. "I guess he wasn't fast enough, though. He didn't win this one."

Vegeta turned to Kenshin, who was breathing hard, yet not hard enough. He was looking down at the ground, but Vegeta could see that his face looked troubled. 

"Humph," Vegeta said. "You lost- woefully. Now you see who is truly the Prince of all Saiyans, and of the world." 

Kenshin looked up. To Vegeta's shock and discontentment, a foolish-looking smile was on his face.

"Yes, I suppose I did lose," Kenshin said. "You were simply too fast for me, I say. Congratulations, Mr. Vegeta." 

"Not so fast," Piccolo stated as he floated down to the ground.

Vegeta and Kenshin both turned to him. 

"What do you have to say, Namekian?" Vegeta asked, smirking. "You must have already seen that I won, fair and square."

"I won't question the winning part," Piccolo said, his voice stern. "The fair and square part I will question."

"How dare you question by victory?" Vegeta asked. "You saw it with your own eyes!"

"You agreed not to use any ki, did you not?" Piccolo asked.

"Yes, and I kept that promise!" Vegeta exclaimed.

"No, you didn't," Piccolo said. "I felt a slight rise in the energy coming from you when the race was near its end. Not only that, but for a slight moment, I saw a blue glow surrounding you. You did not, keep your promise to not use any ki, and so you did not win the race fair and square."

"Are you saying that Vegeta cheated?" Yamcha said, lowering to the ground with all the others coming with him.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Piccolo replied. 

"I didn't feel any power surge, and I didn't see any blue glow," Gohan said. "I could hardly see a thing at all."

"Me neither," said Chiaotzu. "I did feel something though, but I wasn't really sure where it was coming from. What about you, Tien?"

"I did see something a little out of the ordinary," Tien said, sounding serious. "I don't exactly have a third eye for nothing." 

Piccolo looked at Vegeta. 

"So you want the truth, do you?" Vegeta asked, exasperated. "I won the race, and it doesn't matter how I won it, because I still won!"

"If you hadn't cheated, Kenshin might have won!" Gohan said angrily. "That means that you cheated!"

"Yamcha didn't see anyting, did you Yamcha?" Vegeta asked, glaring at the man.

"Well, uh, I don't know," Yamcha said. "If all the others saw something then…" 

"Oh! Blast you all!" Vegeta said, glaring at them. "I'm going to go train… ALONE." 

With that, Vegeta took to the sky.

"I did not mean to upset him," Kenshin said.

"What the heck are you talking about?" Tien asked. "If you cheat, you lose." 

"I agree!" Chiaotzu said firmly. 

"So do I," came Bulma's voice.

The fighters looked in the direction of the Kame House. Bulma, Oolong, Puar, Krillin, Chi-Chi, and Master Roshi were all walking out. 

"That guy has some nerve," Chi-Chi said angrily.

"Yeah," Krillin said. "I wonder what's always eating at him."

"Maybe his pride," Bulma said. 

"I have no opinion," Oolong, the small pig said. "I'm not going to be the one to get him mad."

"You guys saw the race?" Yamcha asked.

"Well, duh," Bulma said. "The house has windows, you know." 

"You want to do some training, Krillin?" Gohn asked.

"Sure!" Krillin said.

The group continued to train for a little while, until finally Bulma announced that she was going to town to go shopping. 

"I have got to get something to wear!" she announced. She turned to Yamcha. "Are you coming, sweetheart?" 

Yamcha groaned.

"Oh, I guess so," he said.

"Yay!" Bulma said. 

She pulled a capsule out of her pocket and threw it. Kenshin stepped back a few feet as yellowish smoke covered the ground where the small capsule had fallen. The smoke soon cleared, revealing a light brown helicopter with two c's, Capsule Corp's logo, written in black on the side of it. Kenshin went bananas.

"Orororororo!" he cried, pointing at the thing. "What in Kami's name is that?!?"

"Oh, give it a rest," Bulma said. "This is a helicopter, silly. You fly in it."

"This machine came out of that little bean?" Kenshin asked, still in shock.

"Are you an idiot or something?" Krillin asked. "You've never seen a helicopter before?"

"No, never," Kenshin said.

"Well, then it's a good time for you to ride in one," Yamcha replied. 

"Uh, no thank you," Kenshin replied. "It seems to be quite a dangerous contraption."

The Z-fighters looked at eachother. They looked at Kenshin. Soon after, a yelling, kicking red-headed man was forced into the copter. Yamcha got in and closed the door before Kenshin could escape. He had a shaky smile on his face. 

"Um, will you let me out, please?" he begged.

"Sorry, dude," Yamcha said, grinning, no can do. We're about to take off. Bulma, you ready?"

"Sure," she said, winking at the two men in the back seat. "Let's go!"

Bulma turned on the helicopter, and soon it was lifting off the ground. Kenshin looked helplessly out the window on his side down at the his friends. They were smiling up at him, waving. He looked down at them with a look that said; "Please Help". Yamcha pushed Kenshin back, thankfully, for Bulma had just started flying at near max speed without warning. Kenshin tried a vain attempt to hold unto his seat.

"Too FAAAAST!" Kenshin cried. 

The helicopted flew off into the horizon, and Kenshin had a feeling that it would be an extremely rough ride. 

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gip-k's Post Chapter Statements: -Hello, people! It's the author here! I know this chapter wasn't much fun. :( I'll try to do better next time. You people are going to be in for the ride of your life, so please stay with me! Action's on the way! 

Oh yeah. You were right, Dee-Chan. :) Gohan doesn't like Kenshin very much at all right now, but he will, soon! And Dragon LadySupreme, Kenshin DID think that Piccolo was a demon of sorts, but those thoughts are starting to leave is mind, too! 

Oh yes! The special thanks! I guess to all my latest reviewers. 

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Female Hitokiri Battousai

Hey, fhb.! Thanks for giving me a true review! I'm glad you took a the time to re-read my story. And yes, I do like my chibi brother a lot. :) He's been helping out, and he informed me that there are some glitches, but hey, it's for the best.

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Dragon LadySupreme

Thanks a lot for you're review! It was nice and I'm glad you wanted me to continue! I did! :)

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Egyptian Lobster Guy 

I was happy to get your review because you're one of the first "guy" to review my story. Also, I read your other two stories. :) I really did like the "Story About Nothing" because it was really a story about nothing! If you noticed, everyone who read it had a side effect of craziness, including me! Everybody, go read this guy's stories NOW!

Also…

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Trunkin

He's my other little brother. (groans) He does nothing but insult my work, but he gave me a FEW good ideas. And he did start reading my story so… I guess he gets some thanks.

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Gokaia_Z 

Don't ask me why I'm always thanking this guy. He FINALLY started reading my story, also, so it's all cool. He's given me the most good ideas. A very helpful resource. Watch out for his fanfic too (if it every comes out). 

So to everyone… THANKS! 


	5. Goku gets a JOB?

Sentiments of **gip-k: -**Happy birthday to me… Hey! I shouldn't have to say that. 

Goku: It's your birthday today? Oh! Happy birthday, gip-k!

Me: Thanks, Goku! Hey Kenshin, why aren't you wishing me a happy birthday?

Kenshin: Oh! My pardons, but I was thinking about something.

Me: I know what you were thinking about! You were thinking about Kaoru! Hey, don't look like that. It's no crime you know, but when it's my birthday, I expect you to wish me a happy birthday!

Kenshin: It is just that… um, my pardons, you have not been very kind to me, I say.

Me: What! Why did Goku wish me a happy birthday? I'm mean to him! I like you more. I mean, you're hot.

Kenshin: Oro! Do you mean that?

Me: Of course. And Kaoru believes it too, if you'd give her a chance to say it.

Kenshin: Well, I wish you a happy birthday, long life, and peace.

Me: Thanks, Kenshin! Because you were so nice, I'll give you back your sakabato. (Winks) Dragon LadySupreme was kind enough to give me that. It was baring doing on my conscience, though. (Kenshin looks shocked) Well, welcome to the fifth chapter of BCWYWF! On my birthday! Fifth day of the week, twenty-fifth day of the month, and fifth chapter! A cool coincidence, huh? Oh yeah, I noticed that you were drooling, Goku, so here's some cake. :) 

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Disclaimer: I'm not getting sued. Goku, Kenshin, beat these guys up for me. (Both look at me like I'm nuts) I'm serious, all right! KA-ME-HA… 

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---Chapter 5---

"Mmmm! This food is delicious!" Goku sat at one of the beautiful wooden tables in the Akebeko, eating to his heart's content. "Is there any more?"

Of course, by this time, beads of heavy sweat were dripping down Kaoru's face. Her knuckles were white as she gripped the table. She didn't exactly want to tell Goku to stop eating the food, but she really, really couldn't afford this.

Tae, the brown-haired owner of the shop, shook her head, a grin on her face.

"I'm sorry, sir," she stated. "We don't have any more of that kind of lo mein, or of any other kind for that matter." Her smile widened. "You've eaten up everything!" 

"EVERYTHING?" asked Yahiko incredulously as he looked up from his plate of fish. 

Tae nodded. Kaoru squeezed her eyes shut. Yahiko's eyes roved over to her. A grin made it's way unto his face.

"Aw, don't worry, Kaoru," Yahiko said, amusement lighting up his red-brown eyes. "Sano's over there, doing his usual thing. He looks like he's winning really big."

Kaoru was starting to get nausea. 

"And if he doesn't?" Kaoru asked.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to pay for that, too," Yahiko said, a twinkle in his eyes. 

"Gee," Goku said. "That's just too bad." Then all the sudden, his face brightened. "Do you have anything for desert?" 

Tae's face brightened like the orange of her restaurant kimono. She glanced at Kaoru.

"Well, I tell you what," she said. "Since you've been such a wonderful customer, the pastries are on me." Kaoru let out a sigh of relief. "And-" Tae began, carefully watching Kaoru's face. "-You get a discount on the whole purchase!" 

Kaoru literally jumped up from her seat.

"Really?" she asked excitedly. 

"Sure," Tae said, winking. "But you still owe me, let's see… eighty-six thousand, four hundred, sixty-two yen."

"WHAT?" Kaoru asked incredulously. "B- b- b-" 

"Oh man," Yahiko said, eyes wide. "That's a lot of dough."

"Mmmm-hmm," Tae said, nodding. "I'm going to be richer than I've ever been in years!"

"Oh, sorry, Kaoru," Goku said. "I guess I should have brought my money." 

Kaoru looked near tears.

"B- b- b- but I'll be broke!" she stammered.

"Oh, of course you don't have to pay all that money right now," Tae said. "You can make weekly payments on it, and pay me about… five percent interest."

Kaoru looked like she was tottering on the brink of insanity. Just then, Sano walked over to the table.

"I made two thousand four hundred and thirty-one yen today!" he exclaimed, placing the money on the table.

"Not… enough," Kaoru moaned.

"What are you talking about?" Sano asked sounding slightly exasperated. "That's a lot of money!"

"Um, Kaoru's having a nervous break-down here," Yahiko said. "I don't think you should mention the word 'money' around her for a while." 

"Over eighty thousand yen," Kaoru moaned. "Eighty… thousand…"

"Don't worry, Kaoru!" Goku said, smiling. "I'll be able to get that money in no time." He turned back to Tae, his smile widening. "Um, are those pastries ready yet?"

"Oh, sorry!" Tae exclaimed. She gave Goku a big smile. "I'll get them right away, Mr. Son." 

With that, Tae skipped away, a spring in her step.

"Did you say eighty thousand yen?" Sano exclaimed, gaping. "But that's like- like- what the heck didya buy?" 

"Not… me," Kaoru said, swallowing. "Go…ku." 

"Come on, Kaoru," Goku said. "That's not a lot of money at all. I'll be able to get it all back in no time. I'll just go to the big city."

"What big city?" Yahiko asked. "This _is _the big city. This is Tokyo."

Goku shook his head.

"But that's not possible," he said. "The last time I came here I-"

Goku stopped abruptly, his memories quickly returning to him. The portal… the fall. What had happened? Goku suddenly got a terrible feeling. This was not his home; in fact, this was not his _world_. 

"W- where am I?" Goku stammered.

"Are you an idiot or something?" Yahiko asked. "I just told you. Tokyo." 

"But- this isn't Tokyo," Goku insisted. "I've been here. There are supposed to be big buildings, and people everywhere-"

"There _are _people everywhere," Sano said dryly. "This city's super crowded. You've got bandits, murderers, bullies- well; I fall in that last category sometimes- and the whole bit. Now what do ya say?"

"No," Goku said, growing serious. "There were more people."

"Here are your pastries, special delivery from the owner herself," Tae said happily as she rushed over to the table. She frowned at the disturbed look on Goku's face. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Goku didn't answer. He stood up from the table and walked over to the window to look out. Why hadn't he noticed this before? This definitely wasn't Tokyo. If it was Tokyo then that meant…

"No," Goku said. "It can't be."

"What's wrong?" Yahiko asked, getting up as well. 

"This isn't my world," Goku said. "I don't… belong here."

"You're right about not belonging here," Sano said. "But the part about this not being your world I don't get." 

"Yeah," Yahiko said. "What do you mean by that?" 

****FLASHBACK****

__

"Goku!" 

Goku's eyes burst open. His eyes immediately fell on the face of his wife. She looked frightened, and tears were evident in her dark, beautiful eyes.

"Chi-Chi? What's going-"

Goku could say no more before he began being pulled again, this time backwards. He barely caught a glimpse of the blackish, purplish thing behind him before he began being absorbed by it…

****END FLASHBACK****

Goku's eyes widened. Wait a moment… hadn't the sky been black? No, he saw Chi-Chi, and behind her was a- YES! A black sky. Goku's eyes darkened. Then that meant…

"No," Goku said. "Someone's made a wish on the dragonballs!"

"What?" Sano asked incredulously. 

"The dragonballs," Goku said, turning to him. 

"What're dragonballs?" Yahiko asked. 

"You use them to get your wish granted," Goku said, his voice serious. "If you get all seven, it summons the dragon, Shenlong. Then someone- anyone- is allowed to make a wish on them. If it's an evil person, there's no telling what they might wish for." 

"Um, what does that have to do with anything?" Yahiko asked.

"Someone evil might have wished me into this world so that I wouldn't be there to protect my friends," Goku said, his voice bitter. "Someone like Frieza." 

"I don't know who the heck this Frieza person is, but I do know you're not from around here," Sano said, his voice grim. "However, I don't think you're from another world. In fact, I think everything you're saying is a bunch of nonsense."

Goku's eyes widened.

"You mean you don't believe me?" he asked, surprised.

"Well, it is a little hard to believe," Yahiko said, putting his hands in his pockets. "You did hit your head really hard on that table." 

"But, no!" Goku said. "I remember. I saw…"

"Well, I don't know about all this," Tae said. "But I suggest while you're here you make good use of your time." 

Goku, Sanosuke, and Yahiko looked up at her. 

"Well, you heard me!" Tae said, putting her hands on her hips. "I could use a little help with the dishes. Mr. Son, you owe me a lot of money, and I expect my payments on time every week, understood? If you can't pay, Kaoru will have to, and you know she can't afford it anyway. So I suggest you act like a man, and do the right thing." 

"What happened to her nice side?" Goku asked sorrowfully in a low voice. 

Yahiko shrugged.

"Women are just serious about their money," he said. 

"Aw, come on, Goku," Sanosuke said, grinning. "Don't let Tae push you around. You can pay the money later. I mean, you can probably get away without paying half."

"Gentlemen?" Tae asked, annoyedly.

"Well, I guess you're right Tae," Goku said, his face still glum. "I guess I should make good use of my time while I'm here. Well, I guess I'll just have to get a job!" Goku put on a sheepish smile. Kaoru toppled backwards in her chair. 

"WHAT?" Yahiko asked. "You're going to help that hag? But… why?"

Goku laughed, scratching his head.

"Well, I guess it's the right thing to do," he said. "Besides, if she's the one who showed me this good restaurant! Haha! I'm stuffed!"

It was Sano's turn to topple over. 

****

Later…

"Well," said the middle-aged, round-bellied man Goku was speaking with. "I guess I can give you a job packing rice." The man's voice became stern. "You make sure that you do a good job, you hear? If you spill a single barrel of rice I'll deduct it from your salary!"

"Oh, no problem, Mr. Wang!" Goku said, a cheerful smile on his face. "I'll do my very best, sir!"

"Good," Mr. Wang said, a crooked smile pasting itself on his ugly face. "Start the job now." He turned away, the crooked smile growing in mass. "Humph. That one's among the stupids. All they do is smile and obey, no matter how much you pay them. This kid's working for only twelve yen an hour. Ha! Idiots!" 

Goku watched as Mr. Wang walked away. A grin made it's way on to his face and he pumped his fist triumphantly.

"All right!" Goku said excitedly. "This'll be fun!" 

Then, Goku started the work. He quickly filled the barrels with rice. The other workers, whose faces had been glum and hopeless, stared at him in utter amazement. Before twenty minutes, Goku had filled _every _barrel. He'd even helped some of the other men heft theirs on to the ship. 

"Hey, need some help?" said a tall, big man. He was about two or three heads taller than Goku, and most likely he thought that shorter man might already be tired.

"No thanks," Goku said, smiling. "I'm almost done."

The man looked around the shipyard uncertainly. He shrugged.

"Whatever you say," the man said, and continued loading up his own barrels. 

Goku lifted the twenty-pound barrels as easily as if they weighed as much as an egg. He stacked about five on top of each other. Then he lifted them up. Now the other guys were _really _startled. Goku hurried off to place the barrels on the ship, but as he hurried up the ramp, the barrels began to wobble a bit. Goku's eyes widened as one of the barrels began toppling down to the ground.

"Oh no!" Goku exclaimed. At lightning speed, he transported the barrels to his right hand only, and did a long stretch to catch the fallen one. He did, right before he hit the ground. Goku smiled at his success. Since the barrel was upside down, he threw it up in the air with his left hand, and caught it when it was up in the right direction. Then, whistling as he went, he started heading up the ramp again. He froze when he noticed everyone else in the shipyard staring at him. Hmmm… that was odd. Goku decided to ignore it and then hurried up to transport his barrels unto the ship. 

"What did that guy eat for breakfast, the Japan train?" one man asked incredulously.

"Must have," another man replied with equal incredulity. "And the track, too." 

"HEY!" called Mr. Wang angrily. "I don't pay you guys for no- hey, just a minute ago these barrels were all empty. How'd -?"

Then the man spotted Goku. He watched in raw awe and amazement as he saw Goku easily pick up seven barrels and begin transporting them into the ship. 

A greedy smile made its way unto Mr. Wang's face. He could make good money out of a worker like that. In fact… what'd he need the rest of these low downs for? He would fire them all immediately if his boss hadn't told him to ease up on the firing. 

"Just get back to work," Mr. Wang said, keeping his dark, greedy eyes on the happily working Goku. "I'll be back in a while." 

Mr. Wang soon departed, bringing joy into the hearts of all the men who were working there.

After a little while longer, Goku asked one of the other workers if there were any more barrels left for him to fill. 

"Well, there's one more," the man said. "I was going to fill that up myself, so you can take a break."

"Okay," Goku said, grinning. "I'm not very tired. I wonder when Mr. Wang will be back. I'll have to tell him that I've finished all the work he gave me."

Goku was about to walk away, but then the man spoke again.

"Say, what's your name?" the man asked.

"Goku. What's yours?"

"Konida," the man said, grinning. "You seem like you've got enough energy to fill a hundred horses."

Goku scratched his head, laughing.

"Well, I guess you could say that," he replied. "You can be strong too, you know. I became like this from lots and lots of training."

"Really?" Konida asked. "What kind of training?"

"Martial arts training," Goku said. 

"That's pretty cool," Konida replied. His face saddened. "I don't have time for that sort of thing, though. Mr. Wang has me working here all day long." 

"Really?" Goku asked. "Gosh, that's pretty bad. He doesn't pay you guys much at all."

"He would pay us less," Konida said, his voice bitter. "Except that his boss, Mr. Law, keeps pressuring him to pay us more. And Wang threatens to fire us if we complain. We don't have anywhere else to go. I have a wife and two daughters to take care of, and no one else will take me because I look so scrawny." 

"That's not fair," Goku said, anger present in his dark eyes. 

"I know," Konida said sadly. "But it's life." 

Just then, Mr. Wang, and his thin, tall boss, Mr. Law, appeared. My law looked a lot less greedy than Mr. Wang did. He even looked kind of like a nice guy, though the serious look on his face said otherwise. Konida instantly shut up and began filling his barrel of rice. All the other men began to work at a faster, more vigorous pace as Mr. Law's sharp eyes examined them. Those sharp blue eyes soon fell on Goku. 

"This is the man, right?" Mr. Law said.

"Yes," Mr. Chang said, rubbing his hands together in evident anticipation. "He filled a lot of the barrels."

"Hello, Mr. Law," Goku said. "I've finished all my work. I was wondering if Mr. Chang has anymore work for me to do."

"Sorry, no," Mr. Chang replied. "But I guess you can clean the ship." 

"Now, wait a minute, Mr. Chang," Mr. Law said in a scholar-like voice. His eyes scanned Goku. "How much money is Mr. Chang paying you?"

"He's paying me twelve yen an hour, I think," Goku replied.

Mr. Law's eyes widened, than just as quickly narrowed at this. Without turning to Mr. Chang, he spoke again.

"And how much are you paying everyone else, Mr. Chang?" he asked, his tone brittle.

"Uh, just the same, sir," Mr. Chang said, a frightened smile on his face.

"Triple their payments," Mr. Law said. He quickly received a "yes sir" from the man under him. Mr. Law's face immediately softened after that. He extended his hand to Goku, who shook it. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Son. As you probably have already heard, I am called Irenicus Law. (A/N: I'm a total name-stealer… I KNOW!)"

"Hey, Mr. Law!" Goku said. "It's nice to meet you, too."

"I've heard many good things about you from Mr. Chang here," Mr. Law replied. "He says you filled more than half the barrels in the shipyard and loaded them all into the ship, all in scarcely and hour."

Goku scratched his head, grinning.

"Uh, yeah," he said. "I guess that's about right."

"Um, Mr. Law?" Mr. Chang asked nervously. "If this man did all his work in less than an hour, doesn't that mean he should get about eighteen yen?"

"Heavens, no!" Mr. Law exclaimed. "You shall pay this man _three hundred _yen. And that exact amount, do you hear?" 

"Uh, yessir," Mr. Chang said in a disappointed sounding voice.

"Did you say three hundred yen?" Goku asked, excited.

"Yes," Mr. Law said, a bit taken a back buy Goku's shock. "That's what you get for doing such a good job." 

"Oh, thank you Mr. Law!" Goku said, shaking the man's hand. 

"Your welcome," Mr. Law said, smiling pleasantly.

After speaking a little longer with Mr. Law, Goku hurried off to see what other jobs he could do, since the day was not even half over. His weekly payments were one thousand, three hundred and thirty-two yen, so he needed a good amount. If he paid more, he could relieve himself of the debt in no time at all. 

Goku walked through the city, receiving all sorts of strange stares from people passing by. _I wonder why everyone's staring at me. _Goku thought. He shrugged. He was new in town, he supposed. That might be it. Goku frowned. He needed to get out of here. He had to get… home. _I hope Krillin and the others are all right. _Goku thought worriedly. _You, too, Gohan. And Chi-Chi, I promise I'll be home as soon as I can. I don't know if this world has dragonballs, but I'll sure try hard to look for them. I have to get back home! I don't know who wished me here, but that doesn't stop me from doing something about it. I'm coming, son, Chi-Chi. I'm coming. _

Just then, Goku heard something.

"I'll pay thirty yen an hour for anyone who's willing to cut wood for me! That's anyone!" a man was calling out. "I'll pay an extra fifteen yen for an excellent job or overtime! I'll say it one more time! Thirty yen an hour! That's thirty yen, folks! Thirty yen!" 

Goku stopped in his tracks. Gee. In this world people didn't seem to have a lot of money. Goku shrugged. That was okay. 

"Hey, wait!" Goku said, waving his arm. "I'll work for you!"

The short man's face instantly brightened.

"Well, come on over here, mister!" the man said.

Goku rushed over to the man's advertising stand. 

"Did you say you wanted to work for me?" the man asked, excitement in his dark brown eyes.

"Yeah!" Goku said. "I owe someone a lot of money and I need to pay some of it back this week." 

"Good, good!" the little man said excitedly. "Whatcha say you're name was?"

"Goku! Goku Son." 

"All right, Goku," the little man said, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "Everyone calls me 'little man Lee', but you can call me just 'Lee'."

"Okay, Lee," Goku said. "What do you want me to do?" 

"Well, I want you to cut some wood in the forests south of here," Lee said excitedly. "I'll give you a wagon, and I think I have an axe-"

"Oh, those won't be necessary, Lee," Goku said, grinning. "My hands do just fine."

Lee looked at Goku like he was crazy. He straightened up from reaching his hand in his stand.

"Well, okay," Lee said. "Just be sure to be back before sunset." 

"Sure thing!" Goku said, smiling. "Thanks a lot, Lee!"

"Sure, no problem." 

After that, Goku headed off to the forest to go get some wood. Actually, he powered up and took to the air. Lee's eyes widened, and all of the people in the Tokyo marketplace stared up at Goku, yelling out in surprise and amazement. Lee shook his head in disbelief at what he was seeing.

"Unreal," he breathed as Goku flew off towards the forest. 

* * * 

Goku landed in the midst of the thickest foliage he could find. He looked around for the very biggest tree he saw. Some had animals in them, so he'd have to scare them away before they got hurt. Goku chose a tree, then shot a very small ki blast out of his hand. It hit the trunk of the tree, and soon the whole tree was toppling over. Goku quickly took to the sky. After about sixty clean karate chops, it was cut into neat pieces. Goku put the branches in a separate pile, and the clean pieces of firewood in another. 

"Hmmm," Goku said. "That's not very much. Well, five more trees should do." 

Goku repeated the same thing five times. Afterwards, he stacked all the wood into neat piles. That hadn't really taken very long. The sun was barely slipping below the trees. Goku grabbed up all the firewood. He made sure it was balanced before taking off. (A/N: Note that this pile of wood was as tall as a skyscraper) 

All the townspeople stared on in awe as they saw a figure emerging from the forest. 

"Hey!" a little girl cried. "It's that man!"

A big roar erupted from the crowd as Goku came. 

"Huh?" he said, blinking. 

The crowd cheered as he landed. Goku made his way through the crowd with his pile of wood, looking from side to side in surprise at the people who were cheering at him. He got all sorts of comments. He tried to smile at some of the people, but there were just so many. He finally got to the stand, and found out that the man who had hired him was gaping at him. 

"I got your wood," Goku said. He looked around. "Hey, what's going on. You'd think that someone real famous came here." 

"Oh, thank you Goku!" Lee said, a smile big enough to hold the world appearing on his face. "Put it over there, please!"

Goku set down the wood, and as soon as he did, Lee began shaking his hand. 

"You are amazing Goku, truly amazing!" Lee said, a look of worship and ecstasy present in his now round eyes. "You can have three _thousand _yen! Four thousand for all I care! Just please keep working for me! Please! You can have my entire business, my house, my-"

"Oh no," Goku said, growing embarrassed. "I don't need all that stuff." He looked behind him. The crowd was yelling and cheering. "W- why are all these people here?"

"They're he because of you, Goku!" Lee exclaimed. "Because of you."

After a little more persuasion, Goku received the three thousand yen from the man, and took to the sky once more. He smiled and waved at the people below him, and they simply went wild. Goku's stomach growled. He was hungry. It was time to go fishing. 

****

Later…

Aoshi Shinomori's narrow, forest green eyes scanned the area of the Kamiya dojo. He frowned. Where was Himura? It did not make much sense. The wind tossed Aoshi's raven dark hair around as he continued to search. He'd seen the Kamiya woman, the boy, and the ex-gangster, but he hadn't seen the Battousai. It made no sense. Aoshi's frown deepened. He did not like things that didn't make sense. Aoshi's eyes widened slightly as he spied a black haired man- what _was _that horrible hairstyle? –Walking through the gate of the dojo. From the horrible smell, which had somehow managed to waft up to even the roof where Aoshi was discreetly perched, the sack he carried had to contain fish. Aoshi watched as the man wearing the orange and blue suit walked up to the door of the Kamiya house, in which was a large hole in the roof. From what Aoshi had heard, repairs were scheduled for the next day. Aoshi didn't know who the man in the martial arts suit was, or where he had come from, but he would find out. If they had somehow hidden Himura, and thought that that man in the martial arts suit could protect them, they would find out the hard way. Aoshi Shinomori was not messed with. He would find out was going on, and if they didn't tell him… Aoshi's eyes caught the glint of the sun, giving them a somewhat evil light. They _would _tell him. There were ways to make them. Getting a lousy man like that would not help them one bit when it came down to matters of life and death; peace and torment. They'd give in. Sanosuke Sagara might cause some problems, but there were ways around him. The little boy didn't stand a chance. Aoshi smiled at remembering him. He had fire in him and a good heart. He would have probably made a good addition to the Oniwabanshu, but Aoshi could never consider putting someone who was on the side of an Ishin patriot in the Oniwaban group. If he caused trouble, he'd simply half to die with the rest. 

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gip-k's Post Chapter Statements: -That chapter's finally over with! I hope you guys liked it. The idea of making Goku get a job seemed pretty logical, though he would most likely never do anything other than fight. I guess this chapter was fun to write, and it took me so little time. :) I guess I've been doing a sort of all-out thing with these chapters. (Smiles) I should be e-mailing all my "fans" about this, except most of them didn't leave an e-mail address. (Frowns at Egyptian Lobster Guy and Dee-chan) Oh well, there's always good Old Faithful Dragon LadySupreme! I guess that's all. I love this! A wonderful birthday surprise, eh? I'm finally thirteen! Yay! 

Oh yeah. Here are the special thanks. Last to first, as usual. There's kind of a tie between to people here so don't be sad if you're last. I'm torn!

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Female Hitokiri Battousai 

You always review, you always read, even though you're so busy all the time. Thank you!

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Dragon LadySupreme

Thanks for giving me Kenshin's sakabato. From his attitude, maybe I shouldn't have given it back to him. :) Well, I can't help liking the guy, you know. Thank you so much for reviewing me! Sometimes I wonder whether you have author alert on me, because you always read right after I update! Thanks! 

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Xartarous

… … … I am truly lost for words. Thank you for reading my story! (SNIFF) Everybody, this guy's my older brother. And he's so kind. He's an up-and-coming author, so please read his work when it comes out. He's probably even better than I am. :) Well, maybe I don't know about that… Well, don't insult Rise of Nations. It's his favorite game. :) 

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	6. Kenshin Goes Shopping

Sentiments of **gip-k: **-Hello everyone. Please do not be upset. I know I haven't updated in like, forever, but it has to do with some lost zeal. I got carried away writing some poetry, reading fanfictions and playing computer games. As duty to my fans, and myself I shall hurry and complete this chapter! I was so excited about it in the beginning, so I don't see why I should just slouch around doing nothing while people are waiting. I hope you enjoy this. (Winks) It's about Kenshin, and his trip with Yamcha and Bulma to the mall. He-he. 

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Kenshin: Miss gip-k is sounding very mischievous, that she is. I certainly hope I will have a safe trip back home. 

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Me: You are a complete baka sometimes! You think I'd just make you die on some kind of stupid plane trip! I said I liked you and you still don't get that, do you. 

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Kenshin: ER- um- I apologize for being so rude.

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Me: Just forget it, Kenshin. (I smile) Let's just start the story. 

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Disclaimer: 

Kenshin: Hiten Mitsirugi Style… Ryo Sui Sen! 

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Me: Good work, Kenshin. You too, Goku. I think that was the last lawyer! (Kenshin and Goku are gasping for breath)

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Goku: I'm starving…

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---Chapter 6---

Kenshin stepped gingerly out of the helicopter, his footing unstable. Even though the helicopter trip had barely lasted ten minutes, Kenshin felt dizzy and nauseous. An unexpected pat on the back from Yamcha nearly sent Kenshin toppling over. 

"Oops," Yamcha said, though his voice sounded highly amused. "Sorry about that, Kenshin." 

Bulma's eyes shone with excitement as she stepped out of the helicopter and looked at the immense shopping area, which was none to far away. She literally jumped up and down, letting out girlish little shrieks as she did. She immediately started heading down to the crowded mall. 

"Hurry up, you guys," she asked, stopping only a moment to glare at them. "I have lots of shopping to do!" 

As Bulma hurried down the hill, Yamcha and Kenshin exchanged amused glances. 

"Bulma's really crazy about her shopping," Yamcha said, grinning. "She'd probably kill me if I refused to come here with her." 

Kenshin smiled.

"Miss Bulma seems to hold none to tight of a lid on her money, I say," he replied. "Miss Kaoru is quite the opposite, I say, though she does give high praise to her embroiled kimonos and ribbons." 

Yamcha's eyes got a knowing look in them. 

"I'm assuming this Kaoru girl is as pretty as her name says, right?" he asked, voice mischievous. 

Kenshin nodded. 

"Yes, she is very beautiful," he replied. 

"I bet you never had the guts to tell her that, did you?" Kenshin's cheeks reddened slightly, which was exactly what Yamcha had expected and wanted. "Ah-huh!" Yamcha said teasingly. "I assume that something is going on between you and this girl." 

"Er, um, she's just a friend," Kenshin said.

"Yeah right," Yamcha said, grinning. "A very _close _friend, you mean."

Before Yamcha could continue his mockery, he heard Bulma's voice, but it wasn't excited anymore. 

"You GUYS!" Bulma called angrily. "I don't have all day to be waiting here!"

Yamcha and Kenshin jumped up. They exchanged surprised glances, and both of them decided it was time to high tail it down to the wall before more verbal abuse was exacted on them. 

Multitudes of people swarmed around the series of massive buildings, as should have been expected at this hour. 

"Oro!" Kenshin said, staring at the large building in awe. "This marketplace is quite large, that it is." 

"Not marketplace," Bulma said, smiling. "This is a heck of a lot better than any marketplace, Kenshin. You can find _anything _here."

"Anything?" Kenshin asked, images flashing through his confused mind.

"Oh, just come on," Bulma said, grabbing Yamcha's hand. "You'll be even more surprised when you get inside." 

They pushed through the seemingly endless crowds of people. They were of all ages and personalities. 

"Oh my god!" cried one young lady. "What a dork! Look, Stephanie! He is such a dork!"

Kenshin blinked. He turned to the brown haired girl. She was gesturing to her golden-headed friend, and pointing to, yes, him. When her friend noticed, her mouth curled in disgust.

"Wow," she replied. "Dorkiest guy I've seen in ages. Maybe in like, forever." 

"Excuse me, young women, but are you speaking of me?" Kenshin asked, confused.

The brown-haired girl clutched her friend's arm.

"Don't even talk to him," the girl said, seemingly frightened. "He could like, pollute us or something." 

Kenshin once again blinked.

"Excuse me?" he asked. 

After a few more rude remarks, the girls headed off to do their own shopping, leaving Kenshin sitting there looking like an idiot. 

"Hey, what're you waiting for!" Yamcha called, struggling not be dragged away by his girlfriend. "Come on!"

Kenshin snapped back to consciousness, and with a quick "Oro", hurried off to join his friends. 

After what seemed like ten tiring decades rather than ten minutes, the trio finally made it into the mall. It was decorated with darkly colored tiles of red, blue, and purple, and flashing green and red lights overhead. The walls were of various shapes and colors, and the many shops simply added to the frenzied atmosphere. Kenshin blinked, struggling to adjust to the ever-changing lighting. 

__

This place is a shopping area? Kenshin thought incredulously. _This place is not safe for anyone, male or female. I should be careful. _

Bulma and Yamcha, however, did not see it in the same manner. 

"Finally," Bulma said. "I've been waiting forever to get in here."

Her eyes roved over to the bright blue sign of a shop that had "Fabbie-Lishilous" written on it in a half-cursive, half something else font. 

"Ooh! There's Fabbie-Lishilous!" Bulma said, smiling. "The perfect place to start our shopping."

Yamcha groaned.

"Do we have to go in _there_?" he asked dryly. "Don't we go there _every _time we come here?" 

"Well, yeah," Bulma said in a know-all voice. "It _is _my favorite store." 

"Well I hate it," Yamcha said. "I say you go somewhere else."

"If you hate it so much," Bulma snapped. "Why the hell are you always drooling at all the outfits I get from there!"

"I don't drool over your outfits!" Yamcha said. "Well, not all of them."

Bulma crossed her arms in front of her chest, her face exasperated. Kenshin could see the plain amusement in her piercing blue eyes.

"My pardons, but I do not like this place," Kenshin said, eyeing the laughing people walking around. "It is the perfect environment for theft and violence, I say." 

"Oh please," Bulma said, dismissing Kenshin's statement with a wave of her hand. "Even if it is, what do you think I have Yamcha with me for?" 

"Can we just go?" Yamcha asked in an irritated voice. "The faster I get in that dang shop, the faster I get out." 

It seemed like it did not matter, though. Two hours later, Yamcha and Kenshin were still sitting outside the dressing room. Kenshin's face had heated up to a level of great discomfort. Why did Bulma have to wear those scandalous outfits? 

"Like this one?" Bulma asked, stepping out of the dressing room. 

It was a bright pink, above-the-knee dress. It was muscle-sleeved with a dipping neckline. Bulma wore a decorative yellow belt with it, and some matching combat boots. 

"Um, how about getting one with the neckline a little lower?" Yamcha asked. 

Bulma punched him in the face so hard that he toppled over. 

"You have no shame, do you!" Bulma yelled. 

Yamcha got up, an angry look on his face.

"Well, I get a say in what you wear, too, don't I?" he yelled. He rubbed his cheek. "I don't hit you like that, do I?" 

"Well, that's because I'm a girl!" she retorted heatedly. "You're suppose to appreciate me just the way I am, anyway!" 

"That's what I should be saying!" Yamcha yelled. "You think you can just push me around, waste hours of my time sitting in stupid ladies' shops, and then all the sudden expect me to kneel down and worship you? Yeah right!" 

"I never said anything about worshipping!" Bulma said, her temper flaring. "All I want is respect and simple courtesy! Instead, you give me a bunch of comments that sound like they should be coming from _Master Roshi_!" 

"Um, excuse me?" Kenshin asked, fidgeting around in his seat. "My pardons, but can't you discuss this without raising your voices. My pardons," Kenshin said, lowering his voice. "But people seem to have taken a high interest in your argument, I say." 

Bulma and Yamcha looked around, and indeed it was like Kenshin had said. The two glared at each other, and then Bulma stormed back into the dressing room and closed her door. Immediately, though, she opened it again. 

"I don't care what you say!" she said angrily. "I'm buying the outfit, no matter what you think about it!"

"Well, I don't care either!" Yamcha retorted. 

Bulma's eyes narrowed in angry lines, and then she slammed the door so loudly that everyone in the shop jumped.

After a few moments of silence, Kenshin turned to the fuming Yamcha. 

"Er, my pardons, but I believe that perhaps you should, my pardons, um, apologize to Miss Bulma," Kenshin said carefully.

"For what?" Yamcha demanded in a biting tone. "I didn't hit _her _did I?" 

"No, you did not," Kenshin replied calmly. "However, you did say something, er, quite offensive to her." 

Yamcha glared at Kenshin, but his face gradually softened. 

"I guess you're right," Yamcha said, sighing. 

Kenshin nodded, smiling. 

"She will come around, that she will," he replied. "She will eventually apologize, and all we be will, I say." 

After a few more minutes, Bulma stormed out of the dressing room, a cold look in her eyes. She held her many outfits in her arms.

"I'm done," she said icily. She walked up to the register, and dumped her load on the counter, where a woman chewing bubble gum welcomed them. 

"How 'you doing 'ooday?" she asked as she rung up the clothes. Kenshin watched carefully. Ah! Somehow the machine seemed to be telling the woman how much each item cost. Kenshin's eyes widened. All these strange machines were making him uneasy enough already, but the pricing of that clothing was outrageous. 

"Fine," Bulma said, her tone still sharp as a razor. She reached in her purse to get her money.

"I'll pay," Yamcha said, pulling a flat card out of his pocket.

Kenshin watched carefully. His eyes narrowed as the lady slid the card through one of the machines. Now what on earth did _that _do? 

Bulma's eyes widened, then filled with concern.

"Yamcha are you -?"

"Thanks for comin' 'ere," the woman said, giving her first smile. She glanced at Kenshin for a moment. She turned away before he could even smile back. Why did people seem to think he was… what was it? Oh yes, dorky. 

The three some walked out of the blue store. Yamcha touched Bulma's arm. She turned to him, startled.

"Bulma, can I talk to you?" Yamcha asked, glancing at Kenshin. 

Kenshin understood the gesture, and stepped a few feet back. Yamcha and Bulma walked over to a corner. 

"Do you think that paying for my clothes will suddenly make you forgive me?" Bulma asked hotly. "I think not."

Yamcha sighed. 

"I know that, Bulma," Yamcha said. "I just wanted to say… I guess I'm sorry for, uh, yelling at you." Bulma stared at him attentively. "Uh, and I'm sorry for, uh, saying what I said. That was wrong. I, uh… well, I guess that's all. Happy now?" 

Bulma continued staring at her with her frosty expression, but soon the ice melted. Her face split into a warm grin. 

"I never thought you'd apologize so quickly," she replied. Her face became serious. "Well, I'm sorry too. I guess I shouldn't have hit you, even if you really deserved it."

"I didn't deserve-" Yamcha began, but stopped himself. "Er, I guess I sort of did." 

This made Bulma more amused. She wrapped her arms around Yamcha and pulled him close. 

"Why do you always confuse me, Yamcha?" Bulma asked. 

Yamcha looked down at her. 

"Well, I don't know," he grinned. "I guess I just can't help it." 

Then Yamcha bent and kissed her. She started giggling. 

"Let's go," she said.

"We're leaving?" Yamcha asked, kissing her again.

"No, you idiot," Bulma said, pulling back. "I still have a ton of shopping to do!" She turned to Kenshin, who was blushing furiously. "But first, we need to get _him _fixed up. Uh! When people look at him I'm pretty sure the first thing that comes to their mind is 'dork'." 

"Oro!" Kenshin cried, surprised. "You, too?"

"Well, yeah," Bulma said. "I mean, look it you. You look like some sort of a bum or something." 

Kenshin fell down anime style. 

"Why does everyone say that?" he asked dizzily. 

"Oh, get up," Bulma said. "You're just bringing more embarrassment upon yourself." 

Kenshin quickly jumped up.

"My pardons, but what clothing store I we going to?" he asked. 

"We're going straight to _Burnin' Boyz_," Bulma said. "They should be able to fix you up." 

So the threesome headed to Burnin' Boyz. They were greeted by a short young lady wearing a white shirt and gray pants, which were somewhat of a welcome from the bright blue outfits worn at Fabbie-Lishilous. 

"Hi," she said, giving them all a warm smile, especially Kenshin. "Welcome to Burnin' Boyz! What can I do for you today?"

Kenshin was relieved to hear a person speaking plain English (A/N: Or should I have said Japanese?) 

"We need to get Kenshin here some clothes- fast," Bulma said. 

"I can see that," the small woman said, her grin widening. Her rich brown eyes said: _This will be lots of fun!_

Kenshin gulped. 

"Um, what kind of apparel do you sell in this shop?" he asked somewhat nervously.

"Everything you see here," the girl said, gesturing around. "Oh, and by the way," she said, turning back to them, or rather, Kenshin. "I'm Myougi." 

"A, um, pleasure to meet you, Miss Myougi," Kenshin replied.

For a reason unknown to Kenshin, Myougi giggled. When she recollected herself, she offered to show them around. The three received the offer gladly. 

"Oh, look at those, Kenshin," Bulma said, voice high-pitched with excitement. She pointed to a row of dark jackets. "You would look really cool in one of those, especially the brown one."

"Um, my pardons, Miss Bulma, but don't you think those are a little… costly?" Kenshin asked.

"Their on sale, you idiot!" Bulma said. "That's nothing." 

"Really?" Kenshin asked, gaping. The way people spent money in this world was quite crazy in Kenshin's eyes. "Well, I do not know. The material looks a bit, odd." 

"It's leather," Myougi said quickly. "But I don't think you should get the brown. The black or the navy would match a whole lot better with your lovely eyes." 

"What is leather?" Kenshin asked. 

Bulma and Yamcha fell down anime style. Myougi simply stared. Then, she smiled, seemingly happy to be able to once again explain something to Kenshin.

"It's-"

"It's made out of the skin on a cows butt, but it looks good, okay!" Bulma said before Myougi could answer. Myougi glared at Bulma.

"Well, I will accept the black," Kenshin said. 

"No, the brown looks way better," Bulma said.

"I believe Mr. Kenshin has already decided," Myougi said in biting tones. "He said he wanted the black."

"But the brown looks better on him, and he's such a dork he wouldn't know what he really wanted!" Bulma said.

"Well a freak like you could never appreciate him and his own personal tastes!" Myougi yelled.

"Hey, shut up," Yamcha said. "I think he should get the blue one anyhow, but he said what he said, right?" 

Myougi nodded happily, but steam was constantly coming from Bulma's ears.

"Fine!" she said. "But _I _get to chose his shirts." 

Kenshin grabbed his jacket, and the foursome continued browsing the ship. Yamcha tried to convince Kenshin to buy some of the screened tees, for he himself had gotten a couple. Kenshin had refused, stating that they did not appeal to his taste. Then he continued. He chose out several pairs of pants, all of which Bulma and Myougi stated to be very fashionable. Myougi, however, would not let him get a purple shirt he had liked a lot. It had someone that looked a good deal like Kaoru embroiled in pure white on it, and furthermore, it was long sleeve and button-up. 

"Kenshin seems to like it a whole lot," Yamcha said. "Why don't you let him have it."

"Yeah!" Bulma retorted. "It's a little off-color, but who cares! I like it!"

"I think it would look quite good with any of the rest of my other apparel," Kenshin said calmly. 

"NO!" Myougi exploded. "It's- it's too much the old you. This is the new you we're talk about. You can't go back to those same colors- you-"

"I, let him be," Yamcha said, snatching the shirt away from Myougi and handing it back to Kenshin. "He said he wants it. At least he's learning to choose for himself." 

After a little more argument, Myougi pasted a very fake looking smile on her face and continued showing them the shop. 

"Do you have any shoes?" Bulma asked, eyeing Kenshin's beat up wooden slippers in plain disdain. "He can't wear those."

"Well, we don't have any of _those_," Myougi said, hardly hiding her contempt for Bulma. "But we do have some boots that would look positively good on Mr. Himura here-" 

"And they'd probably be perfect for the trip," Yamcha put in. "I mean, the terrain on Namek can be pretty rocky sometimes."

"Finally Yamcha said some words of wisdom," Bulma said, grinning cheerfully. "He got that from hanging with me," she added, winking. 

"Well, I suppose it might not hurt," Kenshin replied calmly, though mentally, he was going insane. What was so bad about his slippers?

Kenshin picked out some boots. They felt quite awful. They were heavy and would probably slow him down a great deal. He spoke these sentiments, and though Myougi and Bulma both dismissed the idea as near absurdity, Yamcha agreed.

"You're right," Yamcha said. "Myougi, aren't there any lighter boots?"

"Sure," Myougi said, though she was once again upset about being wrong. "I can show you the lightest boots in the whole store. And the good thing is, their weight does not effect their durability or strength."

Myougi went to the very back of the store. After a few seemingly long moments, she returned, hazel eyes shining with delight. 

"Here they are," she announced as she revealed a pair of brown boots.

"This look even worse than all the rest," Yamcha complained.

"Yeah, these are really bad boots," Bulma said. "I can't believe you even brought these to a customer." 

Myougi was about to start fuming again, as Kenshin could plainly see.

"I do not think they are so bad," Kenshin replied. He smiled warmly when Myougi looked at him in surprise. "I would like to try them on." 

"Fine," Bulma replied. "Just don't complain if they mess up your feet." 

Kenshin finally got to put on the shoes. Myougi, Bulma, and Yamcha waited apprehensively for his reaction. Kenshin stood up and walked around in the boots. He was even bold enough to do a small jump. 

"Hey, those look pretty goo-" Yamcha began, but was shushed by Myougi and Bulma. 

Kenshin continued testing out his shoes. Bulma and Myougi looked near their bursting point.

"Are they… all right?" Myougi asked, though she seemed afraid of the answer. 

Kenshin turned to Myougi. She was relieved to see a smile on his face. 

"They are perfect, Miss Myougi," Kenshin replied cheerily. "I thank you greatly for your assistance."

Myougi looked so blissful it nearly made Yamcha sick. Her ecstasy was so high she looked near tears.

"R- really?" Myougi said, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief acquired from one of her deep pockets. "'Cause people always say I'm, clumsy, and rude, and a bad employee and all sorts of things-"

"I do not think that at all, Miss Myougi," Kenshin replied, his smile growing in warmness. "You did perfectly, Miss Myougi." 

Myougi jumped up from her seat on one of the shoe-trying-on benches. She wrapped her arms around Kenshin so tightly that his eyes bulged.

"Oh thank you!" she said, tears running down her cheeks. "You're the nicest person I've ever met! Oh THANK YOU!"

"My pardons, Miss Myougi-" Kenshin said, gasping for breath. 

Myougi released him, though he still felt dizzy from that squeeze. How could someone so tiny hug so hard?

"I'm sorry," she said, dabbing her eyes with that handkerchief. 

"Well, now what do we do with his hair?" Bulma asked. 

Kenshin panicked.

"My hair is fine, is it not?" he asked nervously. Anything to keep them from touching his hair. 

"It's very nice," Myougi said. "It's gorgeous. It needs a little fixing up though. I couldn't let your hair just be spoiled. I say let's comb it and wash it and cut it and then leave it… JUST THE SAME! Oh it's so gorgeous that's all I can think to do with it."

"You do hair, too?" Yamcha asked incredulously.

"Yes!" Myougi exclaimed. "Actually it's my strong point. I usually don't take customers, but I shall now." She gave Kenshin a wink. 

"Oro!" Kenshin cried. "You mustn't cut it, that you must not!"

"We _must _cut it," Bulma said. "It needs to be clipped and everything. You look awful."

So, the two women forced him. Kenshin looked at Yamcha for assistance, but all he got was a smirk and a wave.

"Please, Yamcha," Kenshin pleaded. "You must not let these women do this to me!" 

Meanwhile, Myougi and Bulma started laughing. They dragged Kenshin all the way into the back, where Myougi's "secret shop" was. (A/N: Don't worry, I think Kenshin's hair is just gorgeous, so they won't change it TOO much [snickers] Ha-ha!) 

The girls combed Kenshin's hair, exclaiming about "wavy and nice" and "too gorgeous for any man" and "perfect for working with". Kenshin kept cautioning them not to over-do anything. 

"Please do not cut it too short, now," Kenshin said shakily. "You won't… _hurt _it or anything, will you?"

Kenshin shuddered when he imagined himself with hair like Sano's, and then like the youth Gohan. Or maybe- NO! Not like Krillin. Krillin had no hair at all! Kenshin pleaded with the two young women to stop, but there was no stopping. They chatted while combing his hair, speaking of tangles and damage that could easily be remedied. Then the pushed his head down the sink and began scrubbing though his hair so vigorously it was painful. What did they think was there? 

"Ah!" Myougi announced happily. "All the dandruff is gone! And his hair is even silkier now that it's washed. Wow!" 

Then Bulma and Myougi began fingering Kenshin's hair.

"Um, my pardons, but do you mind not doing that?" Kenshin asked nervously. 

The two simply ignored him and continued with their chatter. Kenshin flipped his head around when he saw Myougi reaching for the scissors. 

"NO!" Kenshin cried, struggling to escape. Bulma grabbed his arm. Myougi helped. "Please, you cannot cut it! You cannot!"

"Oh, stop being a baby!" Myougi said, struggling to hold him back. 

Finally, after a long struggle, the girls won and forced Kenshin back in the seat. Bulma held his head straight, for he flinched every time Myougi snipped even a little of his hair off. 

Then the two began combing his now shorter hair. Kenshin was in total panic mode. 

"My hair," He moaned. 

The two ignored him, too engrossed in their work. Then they brought out this strange machine that seemed to blow hot air on him for hair-drying purposes. Then they combed his hair some more, speaking in cheerful voices about how happy they were that he'd turned out as good as he had. Myougi used an odd device called a curling iron to do something to Kenshin's hair. Then they combed it some more. Kenshin's scalp was starting to ache. Then they rubbed some more cold chemicals (A/N: It was just some kind of condition/holding gel. Kenshin's a baka so he doesn't know) into his hair. Afterwards, they combed some more. Finally, Myougi pulled his hair back and tied it with his old hair band. She let out a sigh of bliss, then turned him to the mirror. 

"Oro," Kenshin said, surprised at what he saw. 

His hair was the same, though some strands were a bit more reddish or a bit darker than others were and it was somewhat neater and shorter from where they'd clipped it. So in short, he was the same, except that he looked better.

"Do you like it?" Myougi asked sweetly.

Kenshin just let out a sigh of relief.

"I am just glad that you did not cut off all my hair," he replied. Myougi fell down anime style. Then Kenshin quickly added, "But it does look better, that it does."

"See, you big baby," Bulma said. "Was it so bad? Now, all we have to do is get you out of these crummy clothes. They can be burned-"

"I can do that," Kenshin replied quickly. The two just looked at him. He gaped. "You were going to watch me dress?"

Bulma and Myougi quickly said a chorus of "Of course not!" and "What the heck are you, crazy?" 

Kenshin shooed them, and stared at himself in the mirror for a long time. Myougi had done a good job, hadn't she?

* * *

Yamcha paced outside the "secret shop", his impatience quickly growing. He'd heard screaming in there. Maybe he should have helped Kenshin. 

Suddenly, Myougi and Bulma appeared out of the shop, wide smiles on their faces. 

"What happened to you two?" Yamcha asked. "You look a wreck. I mean, you're all wet." 

"That was Kenshin's fault," she said, her grin slowly replaced by an annoyed expression. "He was such a baby. He was afraid we'd cut all his hair off!"

"You cut his hair?" Yamcha asked, suddenly feeling guilty. "You two are really evil. I mean, he was practically begging you."

Myougi cleared her throat noisily. 

"Uh, people, here's the finished product," she said, a proud smile on her face. 

Yamcha looked at Kenshin. He was wearing some baggy black pants, his new boots, and a short-sleeve, button-up yellow shirt. His hair looked…

"Wow," Yamcha said, a wry grin making it's way unto his face. "Looks like Kenshin just joined a new group." 

Myougi was literally beaming. Kenshin gave an embarrassed smile. He seemed to be shy of praise.

"He actually looks cool, now," Bulma said, grinning. "And it was all thanks to-"

"Me," Myougi said, quickly. She wrapped an arm around Kenshin, who flinched. "Right, Kenny-dear? Who is your sweet-heart?"

"Me," Bulma said through gritted teeth. 

Myougi and Bulma immediately began fighting over Kenshin once more. 

"Hey, remember we're going to Namek in five days," Yamcha told Bulma. "Don't you need to buy some stuff for the ship, and some more clothes like you said?"

Bulma snapped out of it. 

"You're right," she replied. "Let's go, then."

They paid Myougi, who gave them a _huge _discount. When the left the shop, Myougi was blowing kisses at Kenshin by the hundreds. 

"Is it just me," Yamcha whispered to Kenshin alone. "Or does that chick dig you, or what?" 

Kenshin studied the ground. 

"I imagine she took some sort of a liking to me, but I do not know why," he replied. "I did not entice her in any way-"

"I'm sure you didn't," Bulma snapped.

"You heard what we were talking about?" Yamcha asked incredulously. 

"Do you think I'm deaf or something?" Bulma asked. "I'm standing right here! And even if I wasn't, I'd know what you were talking about from the looks on your brown-nosed faces." 

Yamcha and Kenshin started sweating. 

"She is quite perceptive, I say," Kenshin said nervously.

"Yep," Bulma said proudly. "And you're not. If you didn't 'entice' the snooty girl, than what _did _you do? Kiss her or something?"

"No!" Kenshin exclaimed. "I mean, what on earth gave you such an idea?" 

"Excuse me?" Bulma asked irritably. "You practically flattered her in, like, _every _sentence you spoke. What did you expect her to do, simply take them as ordinary compliments?"

"Well, yes," Kenshin replied humbly. "I was simply trying to be kind, I say." 

The threesome continued to chat as they walked through the mall. In five days, they were going to Namek, and they needed to be prepared. They bought everything from capsules to shoes to training clothes, and Bulma stated that she would ask her father, Dr. Briefs, to try and get some light-weight armor for Kenshin to wear that would fit perfectly with his normal clothing, and still not weigh him down. 

After visiting a couple more stores, trio finally decided it was time to go home. Bulma said she was tired and she complained of aching feet, and Yamcha stated that the others were probably waiting for them. 

Kenshin was relieved to see that Bulma had a kind side. She'd bought Gohan an outfit, though no doubt he'd wear his training clothes on the trip, and would probably hate what she'd bought him. 

When the small group finally boarded the helicopter, Kenshin was filled with a sense of peace. He was quite glad that he had accompanied Bulma and Yamcha on the trip. Not only had he learned much about their odd culture, he'd actually become accepted into it. Furthermore, it helped him to keep his mind on things much more cheerful than worry about Kaoru, Yahiko, and all of the rest of his friends that had been left behind in his world. He certainly hoped they were as happy as he was, for he missed them greatly. 

So, as the helicopter lifted off the ground, Bulma being too exhausted to drive it as quickly as before, Kenshin realized he was experiencing on of those moments of true happiness. Within five days, he would go to Namek, be sent back to his world in no time. Things were good. 

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gip-k's Post Chapter statements: -Hello! Or maybe I should say good-bye? Well, anyhow, here's the end of the chapter and-

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Kenshin: My hair… why did you allow them to cut my hair?

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Me: Well, maybe I saw your reaction when Misao threw a kunai at you and nearly cut just a _little_ of your hair off, and I felt like getting a kick out of your screaming. :) And I do believe she warned you not to mess with a girl's heart, so instead of kicking you like she did, I decided to frighten you. 

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Kenshin: None of those things have happened yet. Your story is before I left Tokyo, so I have not met her yet. However, you still look for an excuse to torment me. My pardons, but your wickedness exceeds that of Miss Megumi, that it does.

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Me: How dare you! I don't behave scandalously like she does, do I? How many times do I have to tell you to have grat- Hey, wait a minute. Maybe I _should _have kicked you. (Kenshin goes all pale)

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Kenshin: Uh, I pray you excuse me. I believe Miss Kaoru just called me. (Scampers away and is too fast for me because I'm a slow runner and he has Hiten Mitsirugi speed) 

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Me: Hey! Come back, here, Kenshin! I need you for the rest of the story! KENSHIN! Stop being a baby! 

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Kenshin: Do you promise not to cut the rest of my hair off? And to not kick me?

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Me: I'd already decided the first, but if you don't get your butt over here now, I'll decide to bring Misao and Kaoru here to do the second! (Kenshin quickly brings his butt over and I nod in satisfaction) 

All right, here are the special thanks. 

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Zeldagurl

Well, she did read my poems, didn't she? Thank you, Aislinn! Please read her stories, too! They're really good!

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Dee-chan 

A million thanks for staying with me in the fight to finish chapters! 

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Female Hitokiri Battousai

You even read my story AGAIN! Thanks a lot for staying with me, too! 

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Dragon Ladysupreme

Ah-huh! The girl who has Author Alert on me. Thanks for reading my stories. And hurry up and get the chapters up for "Don't Ask" or else I'll call Karasu! (Well, I wouldn't really do that since I hate him too much- he wouldn't like my frazzled hair anyways, though) Good luck with you and Sesshy-san! :) Oh yeah, Inuyasha would probably gladly kill you for marrying his hated brother. :)

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Kenshin: Oh no! She read this story? But then she saw…

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Me: Awww, Kenshin, don't worry, she's still your friend. Maybe she'll put some of it in "Don't ask". 

(Kenshin frowns)

Oh yeah, and thanks to ANYONE who takes the time to read these stories. I'm really, really, grateful for all the support. Thanks, and until next time… Bye. 

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	7. Teach us, sensei!

Sentiments of **gip-k: **-Hello! Welcome to the seventh chapter of **"Cautiously Wishing for!"** The long road here's been fun, but rocky. I wonder if I should say what this chapter is about. Well, it's another chapter on Goku, who is here with me right now, eating some HUGE fish that he caught while the attention was being showered on Kenshin, who is quite ungrateful for it. I made Goku some sauce to eat for his fish, and guess what? He liked it!

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Goku: Wow! This is good! (Munch, munch) Maybe even better than (gulp) Chi-Chi's! (Munch, munch) 

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Chi-Chi: How can you be so ungrateful, Goku? (Goku starts choking)

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Goku: Chi-Chi? But- what are you doing here! 

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Chi-Chi: I'm in the story, too, remember! I'm just not going to get allowed to go to Namek with your crummy friends!

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Me: You never get to go anywhere, and I decided to keep it the way Akira made it. Go complain to him. (Chi-Chi goes to go find Akira and beat him up) 

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Goku: (Sigh of relief) Thanks for doing that for me. Um, what happens in this chapter?

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Me: I haven't really decided yet, but I'm sure going to make you the center of attention, but unlike what I did to Kenshin, it will be in a positive way.

Well, to the story, I guess!

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Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or Dragonball Z, but as of now, Goku and Kenshin are under my control, so I don't really need to. J That's all. My first legit disclaimer in quite a while, eh? 

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---Chapter 7---

Yahiko Myoujin tossed and turned on his futon. What the heck was all that racket? He'd been hearing noise outside the dojo ever since dawn- a _lot _of noise. 

Exasperated, Yahiko let out a curse and violently threw back his blankets. He got up, threw on his clothes in quite a sloppy manner, grabbed his shinai (A/N: Bamboo sword) and stormed outside. 

He was not very surprised to find Kaoru already outside, but thanks to his moodiness, he was upset to find that she had woken up first. She had a puzzled look on her face. 

Yahiko almost decided to insult her, but instead he turned his head to the direction of her gaze. He raised an eyebrow. Scores of little kids were lined up in front of the dojo, waiting for permission to enter.

"What're they doing here?" Yahiko asked irritably. "Why the hell didn't you tell them to leave? They've been making noise all morning!"

"Are you crazy?" Kaoru asked, ecstasy filling her dark blue eyes. "These kids are here to become students! Do you think I'm stupid enough to refuse students?"

Kaoru walked up to the gate of the dojo with Yahiko following not too far behind. He was curious as to why all the sudden a bunch of potential students, little kids for that matter, were lined up at the dojo gate. 

"Hello, this is the Kamiya Dojo," Kaoru said cheerfully. "I'm Kaoru Kamiya, adjutant master of the Kamiya Kasshin style. What brings you to the dojo, today?"

Before the children could answer, Goku appeared out from in his room, stretching and yawning. 

"What's going on?" he asked. "I thought I heard voices."

The kids went berserk. They jumped up and down, pointing and shouting.

"Hey, it's Master Goku!" 

Goku blinked, surprised as the children literally tried to climb the fence surrounding the dojo just to get to him. They shouted and cheered. 

Kaoru, dumb-founded by their reaction, subconsciously opened the fence. The children poured in, nearly trampling her in the process. 

"Here is some soup, Master Goku!" one girl said, only to be pushed away by another. 

All of the boys lined up, and bowed to Goku. 

"Teach us, sensei! Teach us, sensei!" they chanted. 

The girls tried desperately to give Goku gifts, but he was too over-whelmed to take any of them. 

"Hey, quiet down, kids!" Goku said, somehow managing to be firm, gentle, and playful at the same time. "I can't handle you all at once!"

After another less noisy chorus of "Teach us, sensei!" the children eventually quieted down until all was silent. Goku's dark, yet compassionate eyes briefly examined each child. He let out a laugh, and scratched his head.

"There sure are a lot of you, aren't there?" Goku asked. "More than I can count!" Goku's face became more serious. His eyes fell on an especially shy, especially small boy. He looked somewhat… frightened, and his big brown eyes held Goku in reverence, but also curiosity. "Okay, you first," Goku said, giving the boy a small smile. "What's your name?"

"Heero," the boy said shyly. 

"And why are you hear?" Goku asked.

"My… mother, sent me, Lord Goku," Heero said. "She wanted you to- bless me." 

"Whaa?" Goku asked, nearly falling over from the shock. "She wanted me to… _bless you_?" Goku then smiled. "All right, you have my blessing for whatever your mom sent you here to be blessed for. Go in peace." 

The boy's eyes filled with tears. He bowed to Goku once more before standing.

"Thank you… sensei," the boy said. He then ran through the dojo gate and back to his house. 

"Bless me, too, sensei!" one boy said excitedly. "Give me the flying power!" 

"Yes, me too!" another cried. "I want to be strong like you!" 

"Now, now," Goku said, smiling at the children's eagerness to learn. "I can't simply give you the power to fly or make you strong. It takes a lot of training and practice." 

"Oh, then teach me, Master Goku!" the boy cried, standing up.

Then the rest of the boys stood up, and started asking Goku to teach them, and the cycle of "Teach us, sensei!" began again. Goku looked somewhat embarrassed by all this praise. 

"Well, I don't know," Goku said, thinking. "You all do seem very eager to learn…" 

"Oh yes, sensei!" they cried. "We are eager!" 

"I can't teach all of you, though," Goku said. "And I still have some training to do myself!"

"But you're the all-powerful Goku-senin!" they yelled. "You can do _anything_!" 

"Well, not anything," Goku said, smiling in amusement at the excited light in the children's eyes. "I'm sorry, but I can't train you right now." 

The children's faces fell, and some of them began to cry. Then the girls began to bring their gifts again. 

"Here, Master Goku," one little girl said. "My mother baked bread for you. She said she'd bake bread for you for the rest of her life if you trained my little brother."

"Mmmmm!" Goku said, taking the basket of bread from the girl. "It looks delicious. Be sure to thank your mother for this for me when you go home."

"I will," the girl said, a big smile on her face. "And I helped her bake it, too! Taste it!"

Before Goku could, the girl bearing soup came before him. 

"Good morning, Goku-senin," the girl said, unusually polite. "I have some egg drop soup here. I made it myself."

Then Goku was showered with more gifts. Yahiko looked on in amusement, but he too seemed to hold Goku in reverence. Kaoru was just plain shocked, but in her mind she thought; _Yes, yes! These children can certainly become my students! If I can only get them pay more attention to me… hmmm. _

"Um, excuse me-" Kaoru began, but Goku spoke before she could. 

"I thank you all for coming," Goku said, his big smile taking all the children in. "I can start training the rest of you later. Right now, you should go home and get ready. Training is not easy. It takes a lot of patience."

All the children nodded and said, "Yes, sensei." 

"Well," Goku said. "Thank you for all the wonderful gifts. I have never got so many in my entire life! Well, you really should go home now," Goku let out a little laugh. "If any of your mothers are anything at all like Chi-Chi, you'll probably be in lots of trouble!" 

After a few more choruses of "Yes, sensei!" and many thanks, the children began to file through the gate of the dojo. Though all their faces looked excited, Kaoru's was just the contrary. All she could do was watch in horror while all her potential students disappeared into the woods surrounding the dojo. 

Kaoru stared at Goku in horror. She scowled at his smiling face. Finally, it was too much- Kaoru exploded in rage. She rushed up to Goku and tried to shake him.

"What is your problem!" She cried. Oh man! He was standing so steady she couldn't even shake him. Well, then she'd start beating him. He _still _wasn't moving? She tried harder until she was thoroughly flustered and was gasping for breath. She was crying tears of frustration.

Goku looked at her, surprise filling his dark eyes as he blinked, uncertain of what he was seeing. 

"What's wrong, Kaoru?" Goku asked. "What did I do?"

Kaoru was so angry she could hardly speak you.

"You- you- me- my- students- you- students- sent students- away sent students!" Kaoru stammered. Then she yelled out at the top of her lungs. "YOU SENT ALL MY STUDENTS AWAY YOU BAKA!" 

"You mean those were your students?" Goku asked stupidly. 

Kaoru fell down anime style. 

"You really are a baka," Yahiko said. He smirked at Kaoru writhing on the ground, and then turned back to Goku. "Those kids came to see you, but Kaoru was planning on making them _her _students. In other words, she was planning on _using _you." 

"Using me?" Goku asked. "But I always thought Kaoru was a nice person. I mean, she let me stay here and all."

"I AM A NICE PERSON!" Kaoru said, pounding the ground with her fists. 

Yahiko snorted.

"Fat lot of a nice person she is," he said. "She's the same ugly hag she's always been. I can't believe you can't see what she's after." 

"Yeesh! What the f***'s all this noise?" 

Goku and Yahiko turned at the sound of Sano's irritated voice. He gripped his coat in a very white-knuckled fist. 

"Oh, some kids just came to the dojo to _praise_ Goku," Yahiko said, grinning deviously. "Kaoru saw the visit as an opportunity to gain more students, but Goku sent the little bakas back home to their mommies." 

Sano scowled at Goku.

"Well next time, tell them to come later!" He yelled. His scowl deepened. "I need some sake." 

With that, Sano stormed out of the dojo so forcefully, that he left the gate swinging violently. 

"Jeez, some people are really cranky when they get up in the morning," Yahiko said, shaking his head ruefully. He let out a cry when he suddenly felt a blow to the head. Yahiko's mind cleared, and he noticed a small rock at his feet. He growled.

"Likewise, brat!" Sano called, voice angry. 

"I'm gonna kill you when you get back, you big fat jerk!" Yahiko called back. He didn't get an answer for that one. 

"Well, I guess I'll just take all this food inside the house," Goku said.

Yahiko's eyes widened when he saw that Goku had stacked up all the numerous baskets and was taking them all into the house- at once. 

__

Wow. Yahiko thought. _He's way stronger than Kenshin, that's for sure. Could this be the reason that those kids were praising him? _

A knock at the dojo gate called Yahiko back to a state of alertness. He walked over to the gate to answer it. A shy little girl who was about half his size stood there, her big blue eyes shining up at him. She held a small wicker basket that had flowers in it.

"Is Miss Kaoru Kamiya here?" the little girl asked. 

Kaoru was up from her position on the ground, tidied up, and standing beside Yahiko before he could even answer.

"Yes," Kaoru said, giving the child a loving smile. "I am she." 

The girl held out her basket of flowers, her cheeks reddening slightly. 

"My mother told me to give you these," she said. "She said she want's you to take good care of Mr. Goku for her." The little girl's eyes shone with excitement. "Mama said you and Mr. Goku are lovers. Is that true?" 

Kaoru fell straight over. Then she stood up just as fast and brushed herself off much more than necessary. All the while, Yahiko was smirking at the look of embarrassment on her face. She swore to beat him really hard on the head when the little girl was gone. 

"N- no!" Kaoru said, blushing furiously. "Now go on home before- before I- just go!" 

The little girl scampered away, but Yahiko thought he heard her giggling, too. 

As soon as she was out of sight, Yahiko let himself laugh. Kaoru beat him on the head so hard that a large boil instantly appeared. 

"Shut up, Yahiko!" she said. "One more word about it, and you're doing five _thousand _swings!" 

Yahiko closed his mouth tightly. Kaoru stalked away, and when Yahiko thought she was gone-

"Ahahahaha! YEOWCH!" 

Yahiko rubbed the back of his head. He flipped around. Then he looked at his feet. Another rock. 

"Hey!" Yahiko said, exasperated. "That's not fair! You already got to hit me once today!"

__

Bonk! Another rock. Yahiko cried out in pain. That was gonna feel really bad later.

Yahiko entered the house. He saw Goku sitting at the table, munching away. He took some of the food without asking and started enjoying a quite delicious, but quite varied breakfast. Too many things to choose from. 

"Whatever you did," Yahiko said between gulps and bites. "Do it everyday. _Gulp! _This is good stuff! A heck of a lot better than the hag's cooking." 

Goku nodded. His agreement with Yahiko's statement was obviously expressed through the happy look decorating his face. 

"Do you want to get hit again?" Kaoru asked threateningly from her position in the kitchen. 

Yahiko didn't bother to answer. 

Soon after Goku was finished eating, he asked if there was a gravity chamber for him to train in. 

"Huh?" Yahiko asked. "What the heck's that?"

"WHAA?" Goku asked, gaping. "You mean you don't have gravity chambers?" 

"Well, no," Yahiko said. "Like I said, I don't know what the heck those are."

Goku looked like he was tottering on the brink of insanity.

"But- but you don't have any capsule ships, either!" Goku said. "Then how –?" 

"Don't ask me," Yahiko said. "Speaking of training, I need to do some myself." 

Yahiko got up from the table and went outside to practice his swings, leaving Goku sitting there with a look of disbelief on his face. 

Kaoru appeared out of the kitchen. 

"Um, Goku, is something wrong?" she asked.

Goku didn't respond.

"Well, if they don't have any gravity chambers, I'll just have to use weights," he said. "Hmmm… but what if they don't have weights, either?"

"Goku?" 

Goku snapped out of his subconscious and turned to his pretty young hostess. 

"Oh, hey Kaoru," Goku said. "Are you feeling better now?"

Kaoru felt a pang of jealousy stab her heart as the question suddenly brought back the memory of her lost students. It galled her to even think of it. 

"No!" Kaoru said haughtily. "I'd feel a _whole _lot better if you hadn't chased all my students away!"

Goku decided it was time for his scratch-the-head-and-laugh routine. 

"I'm sorry, Kaoru," he said. "I didn't know teaching meant so much to you! What do you teach, anyway?"

Kaoru nearly fell over again, but she caught herself. Proud of a chance to explain her profession, she began the long story.

"My father invented a sword-fighting style called the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu," she said. "It's therefore named after him. Our style is not like other styles. It doesn't teach violence and oppression, and most of all, it does not teach killing. It is not an aggressive style, but more that for protection. The Kamiya Kasshin style teaches of the sword that protects life. It does not take it away. You use your emotions not as a distraction, but as fuel to help you do your very best. You center all of your energy on protecting the person who needs your aid. This is your supreme goal- your fuel. You do not let anyone or anything harm this person. Nothing must stand in your way of reaching that goal. In order to do best, you must love helping that person more than you love your own life. In other words, you must be willing to sacrifice your own well being for the sake of others. Students of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu are not taught to kill. They are taught to protect others. This is what our style was all about, and this is what my father meant for it to be about," Kaoru felt a pang of sadness and hatred as she continued. "However, there were others who held this dojo in nothing but hatred and contempt. They saw it as nothing more than an obstacle that would stand in the way of their own greedy and wicked plans. There was a man who pretended to be the Battousai, which he was not-" 

"Who's the Battousai?" Goku asked.

Kaoru blinked. She hadn't even been sure the man had been listening. Kaoru's breath caught.

"He was on the side of the Ishin Patriots during the Revolution," she replied. "He- killed scores of people during the war, which his side won. Now, as you probably already know, the Meiji Government now exists," Kaoru felt tears coming into her eyes. Kenshin _had _killed all those people, but he wasn't like that anymore. She'd forgiven him long ago. Why did he leave, then? "The Meiji Government is struggling to bring peace to this country, but it can't. There are still evil people. And, like I said, some people didn't like my dojo or me. The man who was pretending to be the Battousai-" Kaoru scowled. "-He also said he was using the Kamiya Kasshin style, just so my style would be given a bad name." Kaoru's face saddened. "All of my students left. If that was not bad enough, he tried to kill me."

"What!" Goku said, standing. "But… how did you get away?"

Kaoru's eyes shone with the memory.

"Kenshin…" she said. "He- saved me. And then, ever since then, he's stayed here at the dojo. And now…" Kaoru's lips trembled. "He's… gone." 

Goku's charcoal eyes filled with sympathy so deep and meaningful that Kaoru could no longer withhold her shaking sobs from coming out. 

"I'm sorry," she said, turning away just as Goku stood. She sniffled. "I- have to go. Perhaps I can find some students to train."

With that, Kaoru walked out of the room, leaving Goku sitting in the room, which now carried an air of hopeless and deep sadness. 

Goku slumped back down into his chair. He closed his eyes for a second, but something unexpected happened…

__

Goku felt himself being pulled into the evil swirling orb behind him, and then all was purple. He shivered in the purplish liquid- wait, no, not liquid. It was not wet- but cold, like freezing syrup. Goku tried to breathe- to protest- but he could not. He was dimly aware of his hand brushing against something else and then…

Goku's eyes burst back open, and he gave a start. He looked around him. The room was just as it had been before. A small table, mats on the ground… what had he seen, then? It seemed so… familiar. Could it have been a memory? Yes… inside the orb. He remembered. But, he'd felt something else- someone else inside that… thing. 

Just then, Yahiko came into the room. Bandages were on his head from the injuries Sano and Kaoru had given him.

"Hey, did you see Kaoru?" Yahiko asked.

"Huh?" Goku asked.

"Kaoru, you idiot," Yahiko said. "I saw here come in here just a second ago. She told me she was going to practice with me today"

"She just left… a minute ago," Goku said, still shaken from his sudden memory. 

"Where?" Yahiko said, concern suddenly filling his red-brown eyes. 

"She said she went to town to go teach some students," Goku said. "She looked really upset."

Yahiko looked even more troubled.

"She's probably still sore over Kenshin," Yahiko said, his voice trailing off a bit more with each word. "She thinks he will never come back."

"But, what if he doesn't?" Goku asked.

"What do you mean?" Yahiko demanded, red eyes flashing. "Kenshin would never leave for good! Not only is he too much in love with Kaoru, but he cares about the rest of us, too! Kenshin's my friend, and I believe in him! He always keeps his word! He _will _come back!" Yahiko said hotly.

Goku stared. This boy, in ways, reminded him of his own son, Gohan. Gohan always believed in him. He'd always kept all his promises to Gohan, and if he never got back to him, his heart would no doubt be broken…

"I'm going to find Kaoru," Yahiko said. "Who knows what she could try to do to herself."

"What do you mean?" Goku asked. 

"Hey, she may be pretty strong sometimes, but she's still a girl," Yahiko said as he slowly put his shinai back into the sheath on his back. "And she's been depressed ever since Kenshin left," Yahiko said. He looked at Kenshin with blazing eyes. "She'll stay like this until Kenshin gets back, and he wouldn't be so mean as to leave even a hag like her in that pathetic condition. Kenshin _will _come back. I just know it." 

Goku nodded, and then Yahiko turned to go out the door.

"Hey, don't you have work today?" Yahiko asked suspiciously. 

"Oh yeah! I forgot." 

Since they had a universal destination, Yahiko and Goku went to town together. Silence prevailed between them, which would certainly not be broken soon, on account of the serious lines etched in Yahiko's youthful face. The boy surprised Goku by speaking.

"Hey, are you sure that you want to go into town like this?" Yahiko asked suddenly. "I mean, I saw what those kids did to you earlier." 

Goku laughed.

"I think that all the commotion will have died down by now," Goku said.

"I don't know why there was commotion in the first place," Yahiko said. "I mean, what is all this flying nonsense? I mean, you are obviously pretty strong, but you don't really use that power for anything too useful." 

"But I can fly," Goku protested. 

Yahiko snorted.

"Sure, and you can punch Mt. Everest to bits, too, right?" he said, tone highly ironic. 

"I can," Goku insisted.

Yahiko shook his head, but didn't say anything more. 

When the duo arrived in town, they were greeted with bows, and Goku was blown probably a thousand kisses from EVERY female in sight, literally. If that wasn't enough, everyone gave Goku a polite greeting, asking after his welfare. Some of the boys worshipped Yahiko, calling him, "Lord Goku's most worthy apprentice," and others looked like they wanted to punch him to pieces. Yahiko scowled at them all. What nonsense!

"For the last time!" He said to one scrawny looking little boy. "I'm not Goku's apprentice, and I don't want to be!"

Just then, Yahiko's irritated eyes fell on just the person that they were looking for- Kaoru Kamiya. She was walking with Dr. Megumi Takani, a tall, mischievous woman with red-painted lips. They appeared to be taken in deep conversation.

"Hey, I see Kaoru," Yahiko said, nudging Goku's arm.

Goku blinked, struggling to tear his attention away from the crowds and unto Yahiko.

"Where?" He asked.

Yahiko pointed, and Goku spotted her immediately. 

Goku and Yahiko somehow managed to escape the crowds, and made their way to Kaoru. 

"Hey, Kaoru!" Yahiko called.

His assistant master blinked, and then turned her puffy red eyes down to him. She gave him a weak smile.

"Hi, Yahiko," Kaoru said.

"What?" Yahiko asked, not believing what he heard. "Is that all you have to say? You leave the dojo without telling anyone, looking like a wreck, and now you appear in town, looking a heck of a lot better than you had before, and all you say is, 'Hi'?"

"I'm fine now," Kaoru said, as though she hadn't heard what her student had said. "I just needed some… time alone."

"You don't look very alone-"

"How is my healthy little former patient?" Megumi said, patting Yahiko's head. Then, before she could say anything more, she started talking with Kaoru some more. 

"HELLO?" Yahiko asked. 

He continued trying to talk gain the attention of both Kaoru and Yahiko, unaware of Goku wandering away, going to work at the shipyard. 

When Mr. Chang spotted Goku, he had a frown on his face.

"You're late, Mr. Son," he said, tapping his foot somewhat impatiently. 

Goku scratched his head.

"Sorry, Mr. Chang," he said sheepishly.

"Well, get to work!" Mr. Chang said in a biting tone. "After you're done with your barrels, you can clean the ships." 

"What?" Goku asked. "But- I don't have time for that!"

"Hmmm," Mr. Chang said in mock-consideration. "Maybe you don't want to work here anymore… I could just tell Mr. Law that you're not as good of a worker as I thought…"

"No!" Goku exclaimed.

"Good," Mr. Chang said, a wicked smile making his ugly face seem even more disfigured than ordinary. "Then you can clean the ships."

Goku headed off to start his work, but he suddenly got an idea. He turned back to Mr. Chang. "Is it alright if I take some of these barrels of rice?"

"What?" Mr. Chang asked indignantly. "You expect me to simply _give _you some barrels of rice just because you work here? You've barely earned a bucket!" 

"Well, yeah," Goku said. "All I want is three, or maybe five."

"How dare you!" Mr. Chang exclaimed. Then greed lighted up his eyes. Unfortunately, he couldn't cheat this idiot, but he could charge him just a bit extra. "You can have three barrels, but _only _if you pay me for them. How's two hundred yen?"

"Well, I guess that's fine," Goku said. "Thanks, Mr. Chang."

"Sure," Mr. Chang said gruffly. Then he went to reprimand some workers for having trouble lifting some barrels, and he smacked one hard in the face for talking.

Goku started his work, but he had this awful feeling of being watched. He turned around. His eyes widened slightly as he saw the sight of a tall man in a large white coat, yellow at where it was folded out to make the collar. His straight, raven's black hair hung down, making shadows on his serious face. His dark green eyes were fixed sternly on Goku, holding him in deep consideration, and very nearly contempt. 

Even though he was obviously aware that Goku had seen him, he continued to stare at Goku with that never-changing face. 

Goku looked back at him. The man had no reason to dislike him- Goku didn't even know him. Goku began stacking some barrels of rice on top of each other. He looked over his shoulder. The eerie stranger was still there. After a few moments, he disappeared around the corner. The way he moved, Goku was sure some people wouldn't have noticed his feet move. Goku blinked.

"What are you doing staring at nothing!" Mr. Chang said indignantly. Goku started. Chang scowled. "Freak! Do you think I pay you for nothing?" 

Goku quickly resumed working, though his suspicion of the odd green-eyed man remained. He could sense an abnormally high power-level. It was not even near his own, though it was much higher than that of any normal humans. Goku shook the thing off. He would know if the man appeared again. 

****

Later…

Goku was back at the Kamiya dojo, doing push-ups with the barrels of rice tied onto him. It had no where near the effect of a gravity room, but for now it was sufficient. 

"When is this guy gonna stop?" Yahiko asked in blatant disbelief.

"Oh come on," Sano said, a hint of envy in his voice. "I can do that anytime."

"Not a hundred thousand," Yahiko said. 

"You can bow to him," Sano said. "I'm not."

"I don't worship him!" Yahiko retorted.

"Oh, shut up," Kaoru said. She was much better than in the morning. "I'm trying to read."

"Hey you," Sano said, ignoring Kaoru's agitated remark. "Get those off you. Let me have a try." 

"Sure!" Goku said cheerfully. 

After they had gotten the barrels off of Goku and unto Sano, everyone, including Kaoru, stopped their activities and focused on the ex-gangster. He started the push-ups, Yahiko counting all the while. They all remembered that the rice barrels were at least twenty pounds each.

When Yahiko reached fifty, Kaoru began to worry.

"Um, Sano-"

"I'm fine," Sano shot back.

"Sixty-one, sixty-two…"

Yahiko's throat began to get dry by the time Sano had reached one hundred and twenty. He couldn't do the counting. Kaoru took up the counting quickly while Yahiko rested. Goku watched carefully. By two hundred, Sano's red bandana was dripping with sweat. By three hundred, Kaoru could see the strain in his muscles. By four hundred…

"Sano! STOP!" Kaoru cried. 

By that time, Sano must have noticed the note of grievous concern in Kaoru's voice. He spoke in a somewhat soothing voice.

"Don't worry- Little- missy- can do a few- few more," Sano said. 

Kaoru's tension mounted when she noticed how tired Sano looked. What the heck was driving him? By five hundred, Kaoru pleaded again for Sano to stop. He had to stop now. This was just too much on his body. Even he couldn't handle this. 

"Alright, alright," Sano said. "If you're going to cry your eyes out, then I'll stop." 

Sano stopped. His breath was a bit ragged, but nothing more seemed wrong. Kaoru let out a breath, and was relieved. That was until Sano tried to stand. He let out a cry, and Yahiko and Kaoru sprang to his aid. 

"Hey, I'm okay," Sano said, grinning at them. He stood up, waving off their aid. "Just get these things off me. Oww!" He said as he tried to move some more. 

Kaoru untied the barrels, and they fell to the ground and shattered, splattering rice everywhere. Sano grinned at Goku wryly. 

"I couldn't do as many as you, could I?" he asked good-naturedly.

"You did good," Goku said, grinning. "You're pretty strong! I guess I under-estimated you."

"Big time, buddy," Sano said. "I'll find a way to beat you- at something." 

All the sudden, Goku's eyes became serious.

"What's wrong, Goku?" Kaoru asked.

"I sense someone's energy," Goku said. "And I feel like I'm being watched."

"I felt like that, too," Sano said, eyes narrowing. "Someone's around here, all right."

Brown and black eyes alike darted to the roof.

"It looks like whoever was up there decided to beat it," Yahiko said, sounding disgusted. 

"Whoever it is," Kaoru said. "We can catch them later. Now, it's time for dinner." 

Eyes lighted up with delight. 

"Fish?" they asked hopefully.

"Why do you guys always want fish?" Kaoru demanded. "No, since Goku didn't decide to catch any today, and since you guys were too much like pigs to decide to leave any leftovers, there's none."

"No fish," Sano said, shaking his head. 

"Nope," Kaoru said, smiling. "But there's still tofu!" 

Then there was a chorus of groans.

_______________________________________________________

****

Gip-k's Post Chapter Statements: -End of chapter, people. You'll just have to wait for chapter nine to see more Goku action! Yeah! Uh, I guess no one found that funny. 

Well, here are my special thanks! They're for my most consistent readers!

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Female Hitokiri Battousai

Thanks for always reading! You must have author alert on me, too. :) 

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Dee-chan

You totally rock for reading my story. :) Thank you!

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Dragon Ladysupreme

Yay! (throws confetti in air) Today was Dragon Ladysupreme's b-day! Well, thanks for reading, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

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	8. Off to Namek

Sentiments of **gip-k: **-Hello! Welcome to the 8th chapter of CWF! It's all coming together now. So, I might as well get to the story, 'cause there's no time to waste!

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Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or Dragonball Z… And it's painful.

****

_____________________________

---Chapter 8---

Piccolo tapped his foot impatiently outside of the Kame House. What was taking them so long?

The previous five days had been filled with training, packing, and for Bulma, shopping and mechanical adjustments made to the ship. Yamcha had offered to teach Kenshin how to use energy blasts, but he had refused. 

__

"I thank you, but no," Kenshin had said as he shook his head. He smiled. "I would rather not use such… powers- my sakabato is quite enough for me, that it is."…

Piccolo made a sarcastic sound. The man probably still thought that ki blasts had something to do with magic. Just then, Gohan came running out of the house. Piccolo smiled. He was wearing that hideous outfit that Bulma had bought him. Red overalls and a yellow shirt- both disturbingly bright. Piccolo didn't have to ask what was in the travel bag he was carrying. His mother would have told him to take all sorts of things. However, in secret, Gohan removed most of the more frivolous items to make room for his armor. That was what he needed. 

"Hi, Piccolo," Gohan said, a cheerful look on his face. Piccolo gave the boy a curt nod. Gohan continued "You're already ready, aren't you?"

Piccolo grunted.

"Five days is more than enough time to prepare," he replied. 

"Gohan! Did you remember your toothbrush?" Chi-Chi called from inside the house. 

"Yes, Mom!" Gohan called back.

"What about your underwear?" She asked.

Gohan's cheeks reddened. 

"Yes, Mom," Gohan replied in an embarrassed voice. 

Just then, Chi-Chi emerged from the house, her arms folded. 

"Are you sure, Gohan?" she asked reprovingly.

"Yeah, Mom," Gohan said, a little irritated. "I remembered everything."

"Let the boy alone," Piccolo said, though he sounded kind of amused. 

"Hey, you don't tell me what to do!" Chi-Chi said. "Mothers always know best! Always! All you do is pollute his mind with fighting! He never studies anymore!" 

"Mom-"

"Don't speak, Gohan!" Chi-Chi yelled before her son could finish. She grabbed his travel bag away from him. "That's it! No more! Gohan's not going on this trip!" 

"But, Mom!" Gohan protested.

"No buts about it, Gohan," Chi-Chi said firmly. "Get inside the house and start doing your work."

Just when Gohan started dragging himself into the house, a loud sound was heard in the sky overhead. Gohan gasped, surprised. He turned around and looked up. Bulma was bringing the capsule ship to the Kame House to pick them all up. Gohan's face brightened. He saw Vegeta up there. Well, not that Vegeta could help any, but the more people on his side, the better. 

"Humph," Chi-Chi said. "They're finally here." She glanced at her son. "Gohan, I thought I told you-"

"I do get to say good-bye, don't I?" Gohan asked.

"Well, I guess so," Chi-Chi said. Shockingly, she handed Gohan his travel bag. 

__

Gohan. 

Gohan gave a start. He looked at Piccolo. He answered telepathically. 

__

What is it, Piccolo?

You know what I'm talking about, Gohan. You don't actually think that we're going to leave you behind, do you? Besides, Namek is a good place to train.

But this is New Namek, isn't it?

The two planets are still similar. Right now, you don't need to think about that. We need to find a plan to get your mother to let you out of here.

I already have a plan. I'm just going to sneak on.

Piccolo smiled. Gohan smiled back. Chi-Chi eyed them cautiously.

"What are you two smiling about?" she asked suspiciously. 

Gohan immediately changed his expression, as did Piccolo. 

"Nothing," Gohan said. "I was just thinking about a bad joke Vegeta made one time."

Chi-Chi looked very skeptical about that, but she did not speak- luckily. Just then, a rough wind began passing through. The three moved back so that Bulma could land the large capsule ship. Kenshin emerged from the house with Krillin, Puar, Oolong, and Master Roshi not too far behind. 

"Oro!" Kenshin breathed. He hoped this one had not come from one of those strange beans, too, for that would be too much for him to handle.

"Look!" Puar cried. "Yamcha's there, too!"

Bulma waved to them. She pulled off her voice set. Then she began walking down a flight of stairs and out of the ship. Moments later she emerged, an excited look on her face. Vegeta came out right behind her, his face exactly contrary to hers.

"Hi everybody!" Bulma said, rubbing her hands together excitedly. "The ship's even better than usual. I got to make a lot of repairs and adjustments."

"Hey, you forgot to tell her about the cookies your mom baked," Yamcha said in an amused tone as he stepped out of the ship.

"Yamcha!" Puar cried in delight.

"Hi, Puar," Yamcha said. "How's everything going?"

"Good," the small creature replied a bit sadly. "I'm going to miss you, Yamcha. Be sure to take good care of yourself while you're gone."

"I will," Yamcha replied, smiling. "Don't worry about it."

Puar's eyes shone with tears of bitter-sweetness. 

"I tire of this useless waiting," Vegeta said impatiently. "If the three-eyed weakling man and his powder-faced adopted child would hurry up, maybe we could leave!"

"That _powder-faced adopted child _has a name, you know."

Vegeta's eyes roved to the door of the Kame House. Tien walked out, dressed in his usual green training suit and red belt.

"His name is Chiaotzu," Tien said firmly. 

"Whatever," Vegeta said, his tone of voice edged with sarcasm. 

"And I am not a child!" Chiaotzu retorted angrily. "I am as old as Tien!"

"ENOUGH!" Vegeta said. "Bickering with you would be like doing so with a mere babe. Let us go."

"Not until I know why Gohan's looking so down," Bulma said with an angry glare for Vegeta. She turned back to Gohan.

"Gohan can't go," Chi-Chi said. "He has to stay home and do his homework."

"Excuse me?" Kenshin said, shocked. "Gohan was… accompanying us?" 

"_Us?_ Who said anything about you going?" Tien asked. 

"Fool," Vegeta said. "He is only accompanying us to take away his shame for the loss that he experienced when racing me." 

"I don't see any reason why Kenshin shouldn't get to go," Bulma said, smiling. "He'd be nice company, anyway. Speaking of which, my dad made some armor for him. Yamcha, be a sweetheart and go get it for me." 

Yamcha said something that none of them could hear and went back into the capsule ship. He handed Bulma a medium-sized white box. She walked up to Kenshin, and opened it. There was a set of bronze and black-colored armor. 

"It's extremely light, and quite thin," Bulma said. "It protects only vital areas, like your shoulder blade and side. That's the only drawback." 

"I see," Kenshin said. He smiled. "Give your father my greatest thanks."

"Hey, I helped, too," Bulma said. 

"Really?" Kenshin said. "Well, er, thank you."

"You're welcome," Bulma replied. She turned to Vegeta. She glared at him, her azure-colored eyes flaming as she spoke. "I suppose that _now _we can go."

"Be careful," Master Roshi said. Even with his dark glasses on the Z-fighters could see concern in his face. "Remember, Frieza could still be out there." 

"Sure, Roshi," Yamcha said, grinning. "I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Yeah," Tien said with equal confidence. "Don't worry about a thing." 

After saying their farewells, Bulma boarded the ship. Yamcha waited for everyone to go in before entering himself. Then he stopped.

"Hey, GOHAN!" he called. "Come on!" 

"He's not going," Chi-Chi said, her arms folded. "He's already gone into the house to do his homework."

"Come on, Chi-Chi," Yamcha pleaded. "You're not going to let the kid go see his own father?"

"You think I don't want to go see my husband?" Chi-Chi asked irritably. To Yamcha's surprise a solitary tear rolled down her cheek. "I love him with all my heart, but I have to stay here so that I'll be here for him. Gohan can do the same."

"Hey, Chi-Chi," Yamcha said soothingly. "Gohan's a strong kid. Anyway, I'll make sure nothing happens to him."

"That's not the point!" Chi-Chi said heatedly. She once again got back her old resolve of steel. "Gohan needs to do his work! Do you think I want him to depend on going to tournaments to make his money and to support his family? He's a strong boy, but he's _my _boy! And he's not going!" 

"Wait," Yamcha said slowly. "I know what you're doing. You… don't want to stay here alone, do you?" Chi-Chi didn't answer. "Come on, Chi-Chi-"

"Oolong and Master Roshi are not enough," Chi-Chi said. "I don't want to lose Gohan, too. BESIDES… he still has his _school. _He's not leaving!" 

Yamcha sighed. He heard Bulma calling him. 

"All right, Chi-Chi," Yamcha said, giving up. "If that's the way you want it to be, it's fine. I just want to tell you that you're not helping him."

Just then, something unexpected occurred. Someone started calling them. Yamcha and Chi-Chi turned towards the direction of the sound. They saw a short, chubby man wearing orange clothes and a sword running towards them. His long, unruly black hair was simply worsening on account of his hurry.

"Hey, wait up, guys!" he called.

"Yajirobe?" Yamcha asked uncertainly. 

When Yajirobe finally reached them, he was panting and gasping for breath.

"Jeez!" Yajirobe said. "Were you guys actually going to leave without these?" Yajirobe held up a small brown bag. "Master Coron told me to give you these." 

"Hey, thanks Yajirobe!" Yamcha said, gratefully.

"No problem," Yajirobe said with a sheepish smile. "We make soup out of these at Coron's Tower- literally!"

"Hey, since you're hear, how about coming with us to New Namek?" Yamcha asked. "I'm pretty sure Goku would be happy to see you again."

Yajirobe's smile faded immediately, as did his kindness. 

"No way," Yajirobe said. "I'm never going on a trip with you guys again. I supply the senzu beans, and that's all!" 

"Oh, come on-"

"No thanks!' Yajirobe said. "You guys always get into trouble every time. I'm not going to be a part of it."

Soon, Yajirobe was already half of the way back to the forest before Yamcha could even say good-bye. Yamcha shook his head. Then he turned back to Chi-Chi. 

"Well, bye Chi-Chi," Yamcha said, getting up into the ship. "Tell Gohan we'll miss him." 

"Sure," Chi-Chi said with a tight smile. 

With that, Yamcha quickly boarded the shuttle. Almost immediately, the ship blasted off. Those boosters must have been ready for a long time. 

Chi-Chi waved good-bye. The passengers on the shuttle all waved back. 

Chi-Chi slowly walked back into the house, where she found everything strangely quiet. Suspicion immediately settled in. 

"What's going on?" she asked. Everyone pretended to pay attention to the TV. "Where's Gohan?" 

Chi-Chi stormed into her son's room. She found it neat, yet empty. The window was open. The piece of paper that was on her son's desk fluttered to the ground as a rush of wind blew through. Chi-Chi hurried over and picked it up. Her eyes scanned it slowly. It was Gohan's handwriting for sure- sloppy and neat all at once. 

__

Dear Mom,

I'm sorry, but I just had to go. Everyone needs me. And I didn't want to let Dad down- sorry. I'll try to be home soon. I just had to go. Take care of yourself, Mom. 

Sincerely,

Gohan

Chi-Chi re-read the letter three more times. _Take care of yourself, Mom… _Had he really meant that? Wait… how did he expect her to take care of herself when he was gone? And she had specifically told him not to go! 

"GOOOOOOOHAAAAAN!" Chi-Chi yelled at the top of her lungs. She yelled so loudly that even far, far away- she was heard…

* * *

Gohan sat bolt upright from his bent position. Krillin's eyes widened. 

"Did you hear that?" Gohan asked, the clean white boot that he'd been putting on dropping from his hand. 

"Yeah," Krillin said. "It sounded like-"

"Mom," Gohan said. He looked a shade paler than before. 

"Yeah," Krillin said. He scratched his head. "That's weird."

"Yeah, really weird," Gohan said. His face looked highly disturbed.

"Maybe it was just the engine of this shuttle," Krillin.

"No. It sounded like Mom."

Krillin gave Gohan a sympathetic smile.

"Hey, maybe it's just your conscience," he replied. "Maybe you're feeling bad that you left your mom back at home."

Gohan frowned. He stared at Krillin, charcoal eyes smoking.

"No," he said. "It's definitely not my conscience. It was Mom who wished Daddy away. I didn't want to stay behind with her, and have Daddy wondering where I was. I don't want to be like her- I want to be there for Dad."

Krillin was shocked at Gohan's attitude. In so few words, he had expressed his inner feelings.

"I don't think you're mom meant to do that, Gohan."

Gohan cooled down. 

"Well, I guess not," he said softly. 

"Do you still feel like training?" Krillin asked.

"Well, since I already have my armor on, I might as well," Gohan replied glumly.

"That's the way," Krillin said smiling. "I'll meet you in the training room in a couple minutes, okay?"

"Sure." 

Krillin walked out of Gohan's room and closed the door softly behind him. 

* * *

Meanwhile, Kenshin sat in one of the main rooms of the ship, right outside the control room where Bulma worked away. She wanted to set a fixed-course for auto pilot mode to follow, which she would engage later in the evening, or when she needed a break. 

Kenshin sat still and frozen. His lavender eyes were directed outside the window he was now sitting outside of. There were more stars than he could ever possibly count, and the pattern and various colors of them all intrigued him greatly. 

"Enjoying the view."

Kenshin's red-haired head flipped around. Before him he saw Piccolo- the tall green man, of whom he was unsure was even a human at all. Kenshin composed himself. Piccolo had startled him, which was unacceptable. He should have sensed- or even seen him walking up there. The way the man spoke, speaking a question as though it was not a question- as though he expected an answer.

"Yes," Kenshin said, staring back at Piccolo with equal gravity. "It is quite beautiful, I say. I doubt that I have seen so many stars before- and of such variety, that I have not." 

Piccolo grunted.

"I did not come here to talk about stars," he replied. "You know that."

"My pardons, but then, what is your reason for approaching me?" Kenshin asked. 

"If you can really sense ki, why didn't you say something when Vegeta cheated in the race?"

Kenshin blinked. Then his eyes lighted up with remembrance.

"Oh," Kenshin said. "The race." He smiled. "I find Mr. Vegeta to be, in the heart, a very broken and hurt person. He hides behind his pride and strength, from which he has built a highly tall wall. My pardons, but why would I disturb such a wall at all without any need? It would be quite rude, and furthermore, it would just give Mr. Vegeta more of a reason to dislike me, that it would." 

To Kenshin's surprise, Piccolo smirked. He once again grunted.

"You're a strange man," he replied.

"I am what I am, though at times I do not take pride in being so," Kenshin replied.

Piccolo walked away without another word. He seemed satisfied with Kenshin's answer, of which cause Kenshin had to be happy. At one point he had thought he was going to have to defend himself with his sakabato. That was a thing that he would not have relished.

Kenshin casually turned back to the window, and gazed out for a few more moments. In the highly polished window he saw a reflection of himself. He was surprised at how much he'd changed from since he'd been wished away from Tokyo. His hair was neater- shorter. He wore the purple shirt that had the woman that looked like Kaoru embroiled on it, and some Khaki pants. He wore his old slippers, though, for he saw no reason why he should not. He wondered what Miss Kaoru would say if she saw him like this. Kenshin smiled faintly. She would probably like his clothes, though they might shock her, and she would certainly like his hair, though would wonder who could have convinced him to cut it. 

"Kaoru," Kenshin breathed softly. He hoped that she was all right. He hoped she would not be too mentally wounded by his departure. She probably would not- she was a strong young woman. He did not even know how she felt about him, for she had never said anything about liking him more than she would a close friend. She had never said anything, but there was something in her eyes when she looked at him that he could not yet decipher. He really needed to get back to the dojo. He could not yet bear to call it home. He reminded himself that he was a wanderer, and some day he might have to wander again. He did not want his friends to become too close to him- to expect him to stay. He had to somehow get it across to them that he might have to leave at some point in time, though he would rather stay with them forever. 

Kenshin became alert to someone walking past him. Even without looking he knew it was Gohan. Furthermore, through peering casually at the translucent reflection in the window he could see that the boy was upset. 

"My pardons, but are you all right, child?" Kenshin asked, turning around. 

The boy stopped. He was dressed in his armor and was probably going to train. He did not explode in a fiery rage when Kenshin called him "child", but his eyes showed that he was displeased with it, and anxious to get where he was headed to.

"Yes," Gohan said glumly.

"That does not sound like a very positive 'yes', I say," Kenshin replied, smiling warmly. "Is something bothering you?"

Gohan stared at Kenshin for a long while.

"No," Gohan replied flatly. His darkly eyes looked irritated, now. 

"I presume you are going to the training room," Kenshin said. Gohan nodded slightly. "My pardons, but how are you to train if you lack concentration? I am sure, my pardons, that your father, taught you just the same, I say." Gohan's eyes widened slightly, but then his face darkened. Kenshin decided to continue. "My pardons, but I am also aware, my pardons, that you desire very much to be like him, my pardons for saying so. He must be a very good man, I say. It is a pity that I will never have the chance to meet him, I say." 

The boy's face brightened.

"You want to meet my dad?" Gohan asked. 

"Why yes," Kenshin replied. "I know his son, and his son seems to be as good a man as him, I say."

Gohan reached into the back of his training suit. He brought out a small piece of paper. He walked up to Kenshin, and handed the paper to him. It was a small, wrinkled up picture.

"Well, that's my dad right there," Gohan said, waiting anxiously for Kenshin's response. 

Kenshin's eyes scanned the picture. 

"You resemble him greatly, that you do," he said in a cheerful voice. 

"He's a lot stronger than I am, though," Gohan said. "He's a super Saiyan, and he saved the world from Frieza!" 

Kenshin looked up at Gohan, giving the boy a quizzical look.

"A super Saiyan, you say?" he asked.

"Yes," Gohan said. "My dad was not born on this planet. He's not human. He's of the Saiyan race. I'm a half-Saiyan, because my mom is human."

Kenshin seemed greatly shocked by this revelation. He spoke with Gohan some more, that was, until they heard Krillin calling. 

"Oh yeah!" Gohan exclaimed. "I forgot! I promised Krillin that I'd train with him. I've got to go. See you later, Kenshin."

Kenshin gave the picture back to Gohan and he put it in its trusted spot. 

"Remember to concentrate, Gohan!" Kenshin called after him. 

"I will!" Gohan said cheerfully.

Gohan rushed off to the training room. Kenshin smiled. He hoped that now the boy did not hold him in such suspicion anymore, for he was a nice child. 

Kenshin turned back to the window. After gazing out for a few more minutes, he decided to go to his room, where all was quiet and the sound of Bulma's continuous button pressing was nothing but a distant beep. 

Kenshin stood and walked through the ship and into this room. He carefully pressed a red button. It was beyond him how the door managed to open, and then stay open until you got through. 

Kenshin let out a tired sigh. He sat cross-legged on the carpeted ground and folded his palms, one against the other. He needed to relax- to think.

About an hour later, Kenshin heard the door open. The footsteps were soundless, but he could feel the vibrations they were making on the floor. Kenshin opened his eyes. He sensed something wrong. Kenshin stayed in the same position, but readied himself to leap. The person sneaking up on him probably thought he was still sleeping. And Kenshin knew exactly who that person was, which was the more cause for him to be weary.

"DIE!"

The moments- seconds- between the time Vegeta created the small bluish blast in his hand and the time in which he thrusts it forth were enough for Kenshin to straighten up his legs, stand up, and leap out of the way without any problem at all. Vegeta did not pause. He looked up at Kenshin, who was now in the air. In the blink of an eye his slippered feet were pushing back against the ceiling, he was drawing his sakabato, and after the eye, opened, he had smashed deep into… 

…The ground. 

Kenshin's alert violent eyes roved to the right side, where a grim-looking Vegeta stood, arms folded in front of his chest. Kenshin, sensing that the assault was finished, smoothly slid his sakabato back into its sheath. He stood up just as smoothly to stare at his attacker with chilly amethyst eyes. 

"Humph," Vegeta said. His mouth twisted into a sickly smile. "You missed, weakling." 

"As did you," Kenshin replied dryly. "We are even, Vegeta."

"No we are not," Vegeta replied, tone ironic. "You are far below me. I tire of your blasted eyes. You stare at me like you know me- and you do not." 

"I do not know you, but I know your intentions, that I do," Kenshin replied icily. 

"I didn't miss because you were too fast for me," Vegeta retorted. "I missed because I did not care to kill you in the first place. Had I wanted to, you would be dead right now! How dare you think that you are as fast as I am? How dare you!" 

"You're only motivation for the last few days has been only to make me fear you," Kenshin replied. "And I do not." 

Surprisingly, Vegeta laughed a bitter laugh. 

"You will fear me one day, weakling," Vegeta replied. "If Kakarot cannot stand before me, you're like a bug writhing under my boot." 

Just then, the door opened, admitting Bulma and Yamcha. 

"What's going on?" Bulma demanded. 

"Nothing," Vegeta replied with a glare for Kenshin. He walked to the door, and shoving Yamcha out of the way quite rudely, left.

"Hey!" Yamcha yelled. "Watch it!" 

"What's going on, Kenshin?" Bulma asked, noticing Kenshin's grim face. Then she looked at the big gash in the floor, the dent in the ceiling, and the charred carpet in the center of the floor. 

"Goodness," Yamcha said. "What happened in here?" 

"Vegeta decided to test my strength, that he did," Kenshin replied grimly. 

Bulma frowned angrily.

"I don't know what we're going to do with that man!" she said, exasperated. "He really needs to learn some manners!"

"You said it," Yamcha replied.

"It's all right," Kenshin replied, smiling. "He means no harm, I say. He simply wants to prove to me that he is stronger. He seems not to know that I am already aware of that."

"So then what's he want?" Yamcha asked. 

"If you ask me," Bulma said dryly. "I think he wants all of us to kneel down and kiss his boots. Something I'm certainly not going to do!" 

After a little more disputing about Vegeta, the two left Kenshin's room, stating that later they'd help repair it. 

From then on, Kenshin knew that convincing Vegeta that he was not his rival would not be an easy thing. 

__________________________________________________

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gip-k's Post chapter statements: -End of chapter, people. How'd you like it? Um, allow me to just guarantee you one thing. If you're sick of waiting to see what happens when the fighters arrive on Namek, you won't have to wait TOO much longer. C 'ya! 

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	9. The Revelation

Sentiments of **gip-k: **-Hi, everyone. This is the ninth chapter. Like I said, everything's coming together now. So, I have two VERY BIG confessions to make to the readers, which I have previously kept to myself.

1#: I am no longer allowed to watch non-Christian cartoons/animes.

2#: I had previously known before and during the creation of my story that there were over one hundred stories that had the name "Be careful What you Wish for." I made a mental note that if I ever ran into one of these people, I would change the name of my story immediately. Note that I did not copy. It was simply what I thought to be the best name for my story at this time. However, I ran into Chibi Binasu-chan. God bless her greatly! She gave me one of the nicest reviews I've ever gotten. (SNIFF) Don't worry, Binasu, you're going to get a BIG special thank-you at the end of the chapter! Well, she had the same name story as me, but the fault is all on me. I usually think of something more original, but I did not this time. :( Shame on me!

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Kenshin: I see, now. I am now aware of why Miss gip-k did not speak to us for so long… she was in sorrow over not being able to watch our shows anymore…

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Goku: Hey, I get it now! (Scratches head and laughs) So that was why she wasn't talking! I had thought she had a sore throat! 

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Me: (nods sorrowfully) That was why. But that's all in the past, now! And Goku, be sure you don't tell my parents that I've been spending so much of my time writing stories with you in them. They really never liked Dragonball Z.

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Goku: Oh, okay. Hey, wait just a second there! I thought everyone liked DBZ.

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Me: Well, they don't! Smarten up!

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Vegeta: (In his usual accented-angry voice) If you ask me, you're stupider than Kakarot! (Goku, Kenshin and I freeze)

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Goku: Vegeta? What are you doing here?

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Me: He's not supposed to be here. (I said that with gritted teeth) 

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Kenshin: My pardons, but I was thinking the same. 

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Me: Well, what are you doing here?

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Vegeta: I want to know why you gave me such ridiculous lines!

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Me: WTF?!? What ridiculous lines? 

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Vegeta: You made me act _pathetic_! I would never pick a fight with such a weakling! It would be a complete waste of my time! (I grin wildly)

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Me: I'm sorry for making you OOC, Vegeta, but that's how it goes. 

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Vegeta: Blast you and your red-haired man! You have no respect at all! I am the Prince of all Saiyans!

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Me: There you go again. Looks like you got a few of the bad lines stuck in your head. (Vegeta glares) 

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Kenshin: My pardons, but shouldn't we return to the story? 

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Me: Yes. And Vegeta, don't come here again! It was always supposed to be just Goku, Kenshin, and me. (Vegeta smirks)

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Vegeta: What a lie. You were the one who brought Kakarot's wife here. (I turn beet-red)

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Me: Get out and don't come back! (Vegeta leaves with that ugly smirk on his face and I compose myself) Good. We'll be going to the story right after the disclaimer, in which I show more of my control over Goku and Kenshin.

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Kenshin: Oro! But I thought that when you were no longer allowed to watch animes that you lost your power! (I smirk)

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Me: Sorry, Kenshin. You just made a miscalculation. (Kenshin and Goku start looking freaked out). 

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___________________________________

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or Dragonball Z. If I did, I'd be sipping iced-tea with Akira Toriyama and getting a sweet smile on my face because Watsuki Nobuhiro accepted my request to be drawn into a bonus chapter of a volume of the ruroken manga. :) Also, I'd be making a lot of money and giving both men a very fat paycheck for giving me something good to watch on TV. :)

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---Chapter 9---

After several days, the hustle and bustle in Tokyo over Goku Son had not died down. In fact, it had quadrupled. People of all ages crammed into Tokyo for simply the very glimpse of him. Others wanted to see him fly. This desire he did not often fulfill, for quickly learned that it made people total fanatics of him, and they never let him have a moment's peace. The children loved him because of his fondness of them, which he displayed in easy smiles and encouraging words. More often than not people wanted to see a display of his awesome strength, and he fulfilled that particular desire by simply lifting a barrel of rice with one hand, and sometimes a finger. 

Not everyone in Tokyo was a friend of Goku's. At times that stared at him with such incredible animosity that he had nothing to do but stare at them, wide-eyed and confused. He did not know why some people were jealous of him. Once a man charged at him in a hot rage, stating angrily that Goku had stole his girl's heart. Goku did not understand that much, so he asked the man what he was talking about, which only earned him a round of punches in the abdomen, which he did not even have to block. 

So, on a certain particular day, Goku was walking through the crowds, trying to get to the Akebeko. He had been reminded swiftly by Yahiko that he needed to get back to the Akebeko and pay Tae the weekly payment that he owed her. Sano had grinned, saying jokingly that Goku did not have to pay all his money at once, but Kaoru had quickly interrupted and stated that if he paid more money the debt would diminish more quickly. She had thanked him for the generosity, of course, but had made it quite clear that she wanted him to pay as much money as possible. Goku had decided to listen to Kaoru. Yahiko said that it would blow Tae's mind how much money Goku had gotten in just one week, but Goku did not really think so. 

His mind was not on the previous conversation, though. He was much more concerned on getting through the crowds, who acted that if he did not give them at least one word and maybe a smile, _each_, then they'd _force _him to answer the questions. How? They would simply all hang on his arms and legs until he was close to being dragged down to the ground, during which they'd insist even more that he answer their questions. It had happened once in the past, and Goku struggled to make sure it didn't happen again.

Ah! Finally the Akebeko was soon in clear view. If he could only make it a little further…

Then Goku heard something that made him stop in his tracks.

"You'd think this guy was so great," one man said. "I saw a skinny little red-haired man get pulled straight up into the sky, and I saw something else up there- some kind of ugly looking black thing. He got sucked right into that, and the thing disappeared straight after, and he was gone."

"Awl, come on," another man said. "I'm sure you was just seein' things." 

"I don't think so," the first man replied. "I saw it with my own eyes! He got sucked straight up and I never saw him again."

Goku searched earnestly for the speakers, but the crowd was simply too large. The words of the first man rang in Goku's head. 

__

Skinny little red-haired man… 

***FLASHBACK***

__

Goku's hand brushed against something. He looked up, eyes wide. For one second- just one solitary second- his eyes met with someone else's. Even in the purple atmosphere, Goku could just barely tell that his hair was light-colored, that he was frail, and that he seemed frightened. Then Goku and the man were swept away in opposite directions, and soon Goku was completely out of the orb, and was flying downward in the freeness of the sky…

…Kaoru's knuckles whitened as she squeezed the object in her hand. Goku glanced down at it. It was a black and white, or rather, brown and white photo. It showed Sanosuke, standing as stiffly as a stick, Yahiko sitting down calmly with a grin on his face, Kaoru doing much the same and… another person who Goku was not familiar with.

***END FLASHBACK***

Goku's memory suddenly came back to him. He _had _seen someone else inside the orb. He'd seen Kenshin Himura. But wait… that meant that Kenshin was taken somewhere, to. Goku scarcely noticed the crowd around him as his mind struggled to tie the two events together. He was definitely wished away by the dragon, but then, why would Kenshin have been in the orb, too? Where could he have been going? 

Then in a flash Goku realized something. Whoever had wished him into Kenshin's world, must have wished Kenshin into… Oh, Kami! The person must have also wished Kenshin into… his. But, was it really possible? Who could have done such a thing? 

Goku was so enraptured in his thoughts that he was startled when he heard a woman's voice.

"Please, Goku-senin," she said, holding out her crying baby. "Please hold him."

"Oh, all right," Goku said, smiling.

The child immediately stopped crying when Goku took him in his arms. He looked up at Goku with glistening brown eyes.

"Hey, little fellow," Goku said, smiling. "What's the matter?"

The child continued staring. He said something in baby language and tried to reach for Goku's nose. Goku laughed. He handed the baby back to the lady.

"Take good care of him," Goku said.

"I will," the lady said with a smile. The child giggled. The young woman walked away with a spring in her step, obviously joyful that her son was now behaving in a more comely manner.

It seemed like an eternity before Goku made it to the Akebeko. He was just going to have to fly home. He had to tell Kaoru that there was good news- Kenshin would be back. 

The Akebeko was quite crowded, and Tae looked tired from the work, yet happy. When her eyes met with Goku's, they narrowed.

"So," Tae said. "Did you bring your weekly payment, or are you simply here to say you could not pay that much."

"Oh, I brought it!" Goku said quickly, and easy smile crossing his face. He reached into his gi. Tae raised an eyebrow when he had some trouble finding it. Then he brought the money out. She extended her hand while still giving Goku that skeptical look.

"And how much is this?" Tae asked.

"Look at it!" Goku said, smiling.

Her brown eyes roved downward, widened, looked back at him, looked around, and looked back at the money.

"But this is-"

"Eighteen thousand six hundred thirty-four yen, I think," Goku said, scratching his head. "It might not be that much-"

"No, that's okay!" Tae said quickly. She looked at the money again. "You think you can dig this much up next week, too?"

"Um, I don't know," Goku said. "Probably."

"Good, good," Tae said. She gave him a friendly smile. "You know, at first I thought you were some kind of deadbeat, but now I'm thinking that maybe you should start teaching Sanosuke a lesson or two!"

"What, he doesn't pay for his food?" Goku asked, eyes widening.

Tae snorted.

"Sake's more than twice as expensive, and no, he doesn't pay," she said. "He's the biggest bum ever to walk the planet." 

"Well, I have to go," Goku said. "I'll see you later." 

Tae smiled.

"You too, Goku!" she replied. "You're welcome here any time!" 

The Tae quickly began attending to one of her seemingly countless customers. 

Goku emerged from the Akebeko, but instead of speaking with the crowd, he powered up and blasted up. They looked both happy and disappointed. He gave them a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, guys!" he said. "I've really got to go!" 

Then he waved to the lookers below, and sped off into the horizon.

* * *

Yahiko's eyes widened when he saw Goku coming- _flying_- towards the dojo.

"Oh crap," was all Yahiko could say.

He had not believed Goku when the man had said he could fly. Yahiko blinked as Goku landed. 

"Have you seen Kaoru lately?" Goku asked.

"Huh?" Yahiko asked stupidly.

"Kaoru- have you seen her?" 

"Uh… what did you say?"

"Yeesh Yahiko," Sanosuke said as he emerged from the house. "What's with you?" Then he turned to Goku. "She's in the house."

"Thanks!" Goku said as he raced into the house. Yahiko began stammering about trying to explain to Sano what he'd seen.

When Goku reached inside the house, Kaoru was sitting on the ground on a mat in front of a small wooden table. He expression was very somber and her dark blue eyes held a look of heaviness in them.

"Kaoru!"

Kaoru turned to Goku, startled. 

"What is it?" Kaoru asked.

"I know where Kenshin is!" Goku exclaimed.

Kaoru stood straight up, nearly slipping on the very mat she had been sitting on.

"Y- you do?" she asked. She looked both eager and frightened.

"Yes!" Goku said. "He's in my world!" 

The hopefulness in Kaoru's dark blue eyes faded immediately, as did the flush of excitement in her cheeks, so much so that she almost looked gray. Her shoulders slumped in defeat, and her eyes looked down to the ground. 

"Kaoru, what's wrong?" 

Kaoru did not answer. Goku waited. Then he spoke again.

"You don't believe me?" Goku asked softly.

He waited. Then he saw Kaoru's head move a little. It appeared like she shook her head slightly. 

A blanket of sorrow fell over Goku's heart. 

"Why?" Goku asked sadly.

"You- wouldn't understand," Kaoru said. 

Goku moved closer to Kaoru, the gap that the eerie silence had created growing increasingly unbearable. 

"Kaoru, I remember now," Goku said. "I saw him when I was brought here- I saw him in that orb." Kaoru remained quiet. "Kaoru, a man in the marketplace today said that he saw a skinny red-haired man being pulled into the sky. That could have been Kenshin. Kaoru, do you hear me? That could have been Kenshin!" 

Kaoru looked up at Goku. Her eyes glistened with tears. 

"Even if it was Kenshin," Kaoru choked out. "If he's in your world now… then I'll never- I'll never- I'll never see him again!" 

"No, Kaoru," Goku insisted. "My friends in my world will find the dragonballs, then they'll certainly send Kenshin back here." 

Kaoru began to sob openly- shaking, wracking sobs. Goku put a hand on her shoulder. Surprisingly, she reacted by quickly wrapping her arms around him. She held him tightly, wetting his gi with her tears. Goku awkwardly patted her back. 

"It's alright, Kaoru," he said. He gave her a sheepish smile. "Everything will be fine. Kenshin will be back here in no time- I promise."

Kaoru cried helplessly on Goku's shoulder for a few more moments, and then finally she composed herself. Still clutching him, she looked up into his eyes. 

"Will you leave, then?" she asked. 

"Well, yeah," Goku said. He briefly smiled, but soon after his face grew serious. "My friends are probably worried about me. I'm sure they will miss me. Especially my son, Gohan."

Kaoru released him. She walked a little farther away and dried her face with the sleeve of her kimono. She turned to Goku, her darkly eyes still shining from her previous tears.

"I'll miss you, too," she said softly. Then she sniffled.

"Awl, come on," Goku said, smiling sheepishly. "I've caused only trouble."

Kaoru smiled briefly. 

"You're right about that," Kaoru said. "I had to cough up a lot of money to fix that roof, and it nearly gave me a heart attack when Tae said I owed her more than eighty thousand yen."

Goku laughed, scratching his head. 

"Sorry about that!" he said. "I was just really hungry that day."

"I should be apologizing to you," Kaoru said. "I'm- sorry for being so selfish. I get so preoccupied worrying about Kenshin sometimes. I really hope he's all right, and I'm sure he is, actually, if he's with your friends."

Goku nodded. The two stared at each other for a few more moments, having little more to say. Then Goku turned his head abruptly, getting an unshakable feeling that there was someone else around them. 

"What's wrong, Goku?" Kaoru asked, noticing his sudden change in attitude. 

"I can sense someone else's energy," Goku said. His face grew grim. "Someone else is here."

Goku walked out of the house, and jumped up to the roof. He began walking towards the source of the ki. He could sense that the person was moving. But who was it that always seemed to be watching him? 

Goku was so engrossed in searching for the stalker, that he didn't notice Yahiko sitting on the roof and knocked the boy over. 

"AHHH!" Yahiko cried as he began to topple off the roof. 

Goku swiftly grabbed his arm. Yahiko opened his eyes. He glared at Goku.

"Hey! Put me down!"

Goku put the boy back on the roof, where straightened out his clothes in the most arrogant fashion.

"Sorry," Goku said. "I didn't see you there."

"Sure you didn't," Yahiko said heatedly. "Just watch where you're going next time, okay?"

"I'm really sorry," Goku said. "I was looking for someone who's been following me for days. Did you see him?"

Yahiko shook his head. A look of deep seriousness was evident in his reddish brown eyes.

"I thought someone was hanging around here," he replied, his mouth curled in disgust. "I don't know who it is, though."

"Are you guys just enjoying the view, or what?" 

Goku and Yahiko turned around. Sanosuke stood before them, having just jumped up to the roof as well. Sano and Goku gave a start when they heard Kaoru's voice.

"Did you see anyone?" she asked. 

"What're you guys looking so pale for?" Yahiko asked. "I saw her. Hey, if she couldn't even climb a roof how could she be called the master of the Kamiya Kasshin style?"

"Thanks for the compliment, Yahiko," Kaoru said with a cheery smile. 

"Hey, I didn't say you're not still a hag," Yahiko replied. 

Kaoru smacked him on the head.

Goku came to and noticed the wooden sword in Kaoru's hand. 

"What are you doing with that?" he asked, pointing.

Kaoru blinked.

"Oh!" she said. "My bokken, you mean? Well, hey, this is my dojo, and if anybody thinks they can just break in here without giving me a good explanation as to why, they're dead wrong. Besides," Kaoru continued. "A girl needs to defend herself, you know."

"Are you telling me that you… _fight_?" Goku asked, mouth hanging open. 

Kaoru went into defensive mode.

"Yes," Kaoru said. A threatening look in her navy blue eyes was obvious. "Girls can fight, too. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Uh, no!" Goku said, using his smile-and-scratch-the-head routine to get him out of trouble. 

"You were treading on dangerous ground, macho man," Sanosuke said, grinning. "The little missy doesn't appreciate people telling her certain things."

Kaoru glared at Sanosuke, but Goku continued.

"Well, I sure hope we can find out who's been hanging around here," he said seriously. 

"Yeah," Yahiko said, pounding his fist. "If Kenshin were here, he'd beat those guys no problem."

"I wonder where the hell that guy is anyway," Sano said, frowning in disgust. "He _does _know that it isn't very polite to leave without saying good-bye. If you're going to go missing, leave a clue or something!" 

"Oh! I forgot to tell you!" Goku said quickly. "I know where Kenshin is!" 

Sano and Yahiko stared at Goku in amazement, directing all sorts of accusations and questions at him before he could hardly speak. When he finally got to explain, they calmed down a bit. Yahiko looked very grim, yet he at least seemed to believe the story, but Sano just snorted.

"Fat lot of good that's gonna do if he's actually really in your world," Sano said. "That means we can't even reach him- if he really _is _there. How do we know you didn't do something to him? It is kinda fishy that he disappears and then you suddenly appear instead."

"Exactly!" Goku exclaimed. "That's because we switched places! Someone wished me away and sent Kenshin to my world. I don't know who, but I'll certainly find out when I get back there."

"I don't know if I believe any of what you're saying-" Sanosuke said, beginning to crack his knuckles. 

"Well I do!" Kaoru yelled suddenly. 

Sanosuke and Goku looked at her, blinking. 

"I believe you, Goku," Kaoru said, directing a meaningful look towards him. "And I pray that your friends do whatever it is they can to get Kenshin back." 

"They will," Goku said, face serious. "They can do it." 

Sano gave Goku a sidelong glare while speaking to Kaoru.

"Well, I don't know what all this s*** is about, but I'm gonna find out," Sanosuke said firmly. Then he jumped down from the roof without another word. Kaoru and Goku called after him, but all in vain, for their brown-haired friend paid no heed their cries.

Kaoru sighed and apologized for Sanosuke's actions. 

"It's okay," Goku said.

"What a jerk," Yahiko said. "I can't believe he just ditched you like that! I mean, he didn't even _consider _what you said!" 

"It's all right, Yahiko," Kaoru said. "It's a hard time for all of us."

Yahiko nodded. 

The threesome went back inside the house, where they sat in silence. After the minutes seemed to stretch longer and longer, Kaoru announced that she was going to prepare the evening meal. Yahiko walked out the door, stating that he might as well do a little training. Goku decided that he would follow the boy's example. 

So, a glum mood hung over the dojo for the rest of the day. Goku just hoped that his friends were doing okay- he hoped his wife and son were doing okay, too. How he missed them…

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gip-k's Post chapter statements: -Hi everyone. I'm sorry about the crummy chapter. It was not really about much, but I had to gain some time. It's quite wicked, so I am going to give you all a second, too! It'll be real exciting- I PROMISE! And you know I don't promise things too often, but this I PROMISE! So, I hope your listening, Aya, 'cause you wanted some entertainment. For the time being just drink your bloody sake. :)

Finally, we're too the **special thanks. **I have a lot of people to thank, now!

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Dragon Ladysupreme

Thanks for staying with the story so long. I know you're starting to get bored, so… I promise more excitement. I'd always decided to put a little "fighting", but the time had not come yet! Yet now that time is here! So, stay with me. Pretty please?

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Dee-Chan

I still remember- you were my second reviewer! The second review I got was yours. Thanks for all your support through the countless weeks! You rock! 

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Zeldagurl

Thanks for all your reviewing! I really have been enjoying your stories, too. You don't seem too interested in BCWYWF yet, which story will soon be called "Cautious Wishing" or something of the sort. I'm really glad you took the time to read it, though. It's kinda long, so I know it must have taken some time- time you didn't have to give. So THANK YOU!

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Crazed Fanatic Anime Fan

Thanks so much for reviewing! You made me happy! I'm glad you liked the story! I love updates, too! YAY!

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Chibi Binasu-chan

(SNIFF) No, girl, YOU rock. You're review was one of the nicest reviews I've EVER had. THANKS A MILLION! Oh, though this may seem kinda personal, I think we have a lot in common! We're both thirteen (you're thirteen, right?) We both LOVE writing, we both like purple! I like anime! I like manga! We both have parents that put various restrictions on us. I know it must feel terrible that you can't e-mail people. I think you can get an e-mail address at ff.net or somewhere else. I'm not sure, but since the MSN parental controls haven't registered them as existing, maybe it won't know they're there? Very stupid sounding, yes, but it's possible! Just NEVER get Hotmail. Oh, no, it will DEFINITELY know about that. 

Also, in case you were wondering, all your requests were granted before you even read the story. (in other words, I was already going to put EVERYTHING you wanted!) 

I ALWAYS UPDATE FAST!!!

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Also, I'd like to thank all those who have put me on their favorites' list. :) You don't know what it means to me! Thank you **Xartarous, Dee-chan, zeldagurl, Chibi Binasu-chan, **and a person unfamiliar to me at this time, **Midnight Youko. **Thanks everyone! 


	10. Searching and Discovering

Sentiments of **gip-k: **-Uh, hi. I have a quick announcement. **Be Careful What you Wish** for will go through a revision process, since I am now CHANGING THE NAME **Cautiously Wishing For… **Please wait patiently while I do this. I assure you it won't take long. So this chapter is the last chapter you will see under the story name **Be Careful What you Wish for. **Thanks for all your support, and for listening to my messed up ramble! Now let's cut to the chase before some fans start killing me! 

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Disclaimer: I told you I don't own ruroken or DBZ! Must these lawyers always rub it in? And why can't I get rid of them?

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---Chapter 10---

"We're finally here!" Bulma announced in a cheery voice. 

After weeks of tiring travel and occasional space sickness, the group of fighters, a wanderer, and a female scientist finally landed their capsule ship on New Namek. When the words had scarcely left Bulma's smiling mouth, the group was rushing out the ship's door excitedly. The only people who seemed to hold on to sanity were Vegeta and Piccolo, and even they seemed in a rush. Bulma turned blue with rage as she rushed out after them. 

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU?" Bulma asked, panting. "I hadn't even got to test the air! You could have all been dead!" 

"We didn't die on Namek, remember?" Krillin replied. "And Piccolo said the two planets are similar to each other, right Piccolo?" 

Piccolo nodded a reply. 

"Look at the sky, Kenshin!" Gohan said excitedly. 

Kenshin's amethyst colored eyes looked up. They widened temporarily. 

"But, the sky is green," Kenshin replied, taking in the beautiful scene above him. Wispy looking cirrus clouds interrupted the green here and there, but it was mostly clear, today. Today was a beautiful day. All the group had to do was fine the dragonballs, and all would be well. 

Kenshin and Gohan had become good friends during the long trip, and now Gohan was always telling him something new or laughing about something with him. Vegeta had not tried anything else, but that did not keep Gohan from keeping an eye on him, as it did not the other Z-fighters. 

Currently, the fighters were now enjoying the fresh air, or simply the view. New Namek was dotted with jagged mountain cliffs, lakes, and other natural beauties. It was truly a different planet, with various kinds of flowers and big birds and dinosaurs. It was completely amazing. 

"Yep, the sky's green," Gohan said. "It takes a little getting used to, but it's really nice, isn't it?"

"It's beautiful, I say," Kenshin replied breathlessly. 

"I'm going to go change into something more comfortable," Bulma announced. "I'll be back in a second." 

With that, Bulma ducked back into the capsule ship. 

"So, what do we do?" Yamcha asked.

"We wait," Piccolo said. "Bulma's going to get the dragon radar. Then we can search for the dragonballs." 

Vegeta, in the meanwhile, was sporting a deep frown.

"I wish that fool woman would hurry up so we could get this over with," he muttered angrily. 

The rest of the Z-fighters ignored this comment. 

"This place is good for training, isn't it Tien?" Chiaotzu asked excitedly. Tien nodded.

"But we have to respect the Nameks who live here," he replied. "This is their home. We're only guests here." 

After that all was silent, apart from Vegeta's exasperated muttering. 

After they waited a few more moments, Bulma finally emerged from the capsule ship, the briefcase carrying her computer and the dragon radar occupying both her hands. She had a big smile on her face. 

"All ready!" she said. 

"Yeah, yeah," Vegeta said. "I've had enough of your frivolousness, woman. Let us be off." 

"Do you have a second dragon radar, Bulma?" Gohan asked. 

Bulma blinked.

"Well, as a matter of fact I think I do," she said, reaching in the pocket of her black and pink jacket. She handed it to Gohan. 

"Hey, since we have two, why don't we split up?" Tien asked. 

"Hey, that's a good idea," Bulma replied. "Then we'd find the dragonballs more quickly."

"So what are the groups?" Krillin asked.

"Well, Bulma, Tien, Chiaotzu and I can go together," Yamcha said. "And Krillin can come with us, too. The rest of you can form the other group."

"So that would mean young Gohan, Mr. Piccolo, Mr. Vegeta and I would form the other group," Kenshin said. 

"I don't want to be a part of any of your stupid groups," Vegeta replied hotly. "I can go alone!" 

"No," Yamcha said. "We should all stay together, so that in case there's trouble none of us will have to face it alone." 

"Humph," Vegeta said with a sardonic grin. "Maybe _you _can't face it alone."

"I'm sick of you!" Yamcha exploded. He rushed towards Vegeta before anyone could stop him. Vegeta gave him a simple kick to the stomach and he went flying back and into Tien and Chiaotzu. Yamcha was about to get up and attack again, but Tien held him back. When Yamcha realized his fighting was futile, he violently shrugged out of Tien's grasp. He gave Vegeta a deadly glare.

"Yamcha, what's with you all the sudden?" Bulma asked. 

"Just shut up, Bulma," Yamcha retorted. 

"Don't you tell me to shut up!" Bulma shot back. "You shut up yourself!" 

"That's enough, everybody," Tien said. 

Bulma and Yamcha glared at him. Vegeta stared on at them with a grim look on his face. 

"Yeah, sure," Yamcha muttered angrily. He said something about Vegeta that the rest of them couldn't hear. 

"I don't see what you're sulking about," Vegeta said, frowning. "You're nothing but a weakling, and you've always been." 

"Go to hell," Yamcha retorted. 

"I don't see what Vegeta's done to make you so mad," Krillin said. 

"Yeah," Tien added. "I don't get it either." 

"I don't understand either," Chiaotzu put in. 

"It's nothing, okay!" Yamcha said. He gave Bulma a meaningful glance, then stalked away.

"Yamcha, wait!" Bulma cried, running after him quickly. 

Krillin and Gohan looked at each other. 

"Do you think Yamcha is going to be okay?" Gohan asked. 

Krillin nodded.

"Yeah, I think so," he replied. "He just needs to let off a little steam." 

"I could care less about him," Vegeta said. "Are you coming, or must I go alone?" 

"I am prepared to go, I say," Kenshin said. There was a heavy look in his lavender eyes. 

"Well, I guess we can go," Gohan said. 

"Yes," Piccolo added sternly. "We have spent enough time here." 

"Well," Krillin said, sighing. "I guess that means I have to go find Yams and Bulma. See you later, Gohan."

"Bye, Krillin," Gohan said. "Take care!" 

"Sure will," Krillin replied with a small smile. 

With that, Krillin jogged off to find his friends. Tien and Chiaotzu gave their farewells, too, and swiftly followed after Krillin. 

"Well, if they're going left, I say we go in the opposite direction," Vegeta said firmly. He powered up and took to the sky, not caring that he was leaving the others behind. Piccolo took to the sky, too, but stopped, looking down at Kenshin and Gohan quizzical. 

"It's okay!" Gohan called. "Kenshin and I can walk!"

Piccolo nodded, and continued after Vegeta. Gohan started running, and Kenshin stayed right at his side. Gohan noticed that his new friend seemed more glum than he usually did. 

"What's wrong, Kenshin?" Gohan asked. 

Kenshin blinked. He turned to Gohan, and forced a small yet encouraging smile. 

"I believe I will miss this world, that I will," Kenshin said. 

"Really?" Gohan asked. "But I thought you missed your home a lot."

"I do," Kenshin said. "It is just so… peaceful here, I say."

"It's never like this, usually," Gohan said, panting from his running. "Usually there's always some bad guy trying to wreck everything." 

"I would not put it like that, I say, but it is much the same in my world," Kenshin replied. "The government still has to improve much, that it does. I simply have trouble understanding why someone would want to hurt innocent people who are simply trying to live their lives in peace, that I do." 

Gohan nodded. The two continued to run. Piccolo occasionally stopped to see how they were doing, but Vegeta did not slow down one bit. He seemed very engrossed in what he was doing. 

The travel continued. Gohan occasionally looked at the dragon radar. It didn't seem to be picking anything up yet. Gohan decided to pass the time by talking some more. 

"Kenshin, do you have any idea why Yamcha got so mad at Vegeta?" Gohan asked. "He seemed to be pretty okay with him not too long ago." 

"It partially concerns Miss Bulma, that it does," Kenshin replied. "Yamcha seems to grow quite uneasy when Vegeta looks at her in an, er, certain way. Furthermore, Yamcha is angered because he can do little about it, for Vegeta is much stronger than he is. My pardons, but I would say, my pardons, that Yamcha is envious of Vegeta. My pardons, but it also seems to be a long time rivalry, I say."

Gohan's eyes widened. He looked up at Vegeta.

"Hey, maybe you're right." Gohan replied. 

Then he heard a beeping noise. He looked at the dragon radar. He smiled. 

"Hey, look! It says that the dragonballs only a twenty miles away from where we are now! Wait a minute- it looks like there's two of them! One is five miles west of the other one."

"Oro!" Kenshin exclaimed. "We have twenty miles more to run?"

Gohan stopped, and Kenshin did, as well. 

"Yeah," Gohan said quickly. "HEY PICCOLO!"

Piccolo stopped flying, and looked down at Gohan. He told Piccolo of the location of the dragonballs. Piccolo told Vegeta telepathically. Then Vegeta and Piccolo floated down to the ground where Gohan and Kenshin were standing. 

"You said twenty miles north of here?" Piccolo asked when they were all grouped together. 

Gohan nodded.

"I could have found that out even without the dragon radar," Vegeta said. "A meager twenty miles is easy distance to cover. We'll be there in no time."

"Gohan, are you sure you want to walk all the way there?" Piccolo asked. 

Gohan turned to Kenshin.

"Do you still want to walk?" he asked. "If you do, we could, but flying would be much faster."

"My pardons, but I was not gifted with such an ability, I say," Kenshin replied sheepishly.

"That's okay, I could carry you," Gohan said. 

Kenshin thought about that for a few seconds. Then he immediately declined. 

After a little more discussion, Piccolo and Vegeta blasted off, and Gohan and Kenshin resumed running, this time at a faster speed. Piccolo must've somehow convinced Vegeta to fly more slowly, because he and Piccolo were never too far ahead. 

After an hour, the foursome had reached the area. Piccolo and Vegeta landed. 

"It's around here, somewhere," Gohan said. 

"Well then, let's start looking," Vegeta said in a serious voice. "We need to stop wasting so much time."

The group began searching for the dragonballs, using the radar to guide them. Everything was going well, until all four peoples' eyes widened, and they looked up from their tasks, shocked and bewildered.

"Do you sense that energy?" Gohan whispered. "It's amazing." 

"Yes," Piccolo replied seriously. "It seems to be coming closer."

The four looked up to the sky, where the saw a faraway object approaching them. 

Kenshin focused his eyes on the object, his face growing grim. If what he was sensing was correct, that thing that was coming was very evil and very powerful. 

The thing came closer, flying down from the sky at lightning speeds. Then Gohan realized what it was.

"It's a ship," he sputtered. 

As the ship came closer, Kenshin, Gohan, Vegeta and Piccolo made room it to land. A few moments later the thing crash-landed into the grassy soil. The earth shook with the impact and brownish dust flew into the air. Gohan started coughing. When the dust cleared, the foursome saw that the grassy land beneath it had been reduced to a dry brown dirt, and the ship had created a wide mortar, of which the depth was incredible. 

Vegeta looked very uneasy. 

"This power level feels familiar," he said. Beads of sweat dropped down his forehead. "It can't be!" 

Gohan felt his stomach twist into a sickening knot. The door of the large white ship opened ever so slowly. Everyone kept silent, the horror in Vegeta's dark eyes increasing by the moment. After a few moments the door of the space shuttle was completely opened, causing even more tension. Gohan began to sweat. Why wouldn't the person just walk out already?

Gohan wished he had made that wish, for the character that emerged from out of the ship was the least person that Gohan wanted to see- the least person he'd expected to.

The white man- ALIEN- that looked up at them had robotic parts on half of his face. His legs and part of his gracefully moving white tail were also robotic. The purple orbs, one on the top of his head and one in the midst of his abdomen marked him as surely as his blood red eyes and the sardonic smile that twisted his darkly purple lips. The words he spoke chilled the four people to the very bone. 

"It's payback time." 

Vegeta stepped back from the mortar, a look of utter confusion and horror evident on his face. 

"No, it can't be," Vegeta croaked. "He's supposed to be dead. Kakarot- Kakarot killed him- Kakarot killed him."

Gohan looked on at Piccolo, frightened. 

"What are we going to do?" he asked. "If that's Frieza down there, then-"

"Now, now. It's rude to talk behind someone's back."

Kenshin flipped his head around, as did his three friends. He blinked. But Frieza had just been in the mortar, hadn't he? 

"It's time to be reunited with some old, _friends_," Frieza said. "I heard what happened to your precious Kakarot. Looks like he won't be here to save you! Ahahahaha!" 

"No…" Gohan moaned. 

Frieza smiled at him.

"Now who do we have here?" Frieza said, that sardonic smile increasing in volume. "The son of Kakarot. Hmmm… if I remember correctly, you were the one who was a coward." 

Gohan's stomach twisted. Frieza's eyes roved over to Piccolo. 

"Hmmm…" Frieza said in mock-thoughtfulness. "The Namek. You sacrificed yourself to save the coward boy. How pathetic. You should be dead. Another saved by the dragonballs." 

Frieza's red eyes turned to Vegeta. The Saiyan prince took another step back. 

"So, you remember, do you?" Frieza said. His laugh made Vegeta look even more disturbed. "You should be dead, too. I remember vividly how I robbed the life out of your pathetic body. I'm sure Kakarot must have brought you back to life, as well." 

Lastly, Frieza turned to Kenshin, who was staring at him coldly. Frieza smiled deviously. 

"Now who is this?" he asked in mock-innocence. "I don't believe I've been acquainted with you, yet."

"I have no desire to give you my name, Frieza," Kenshin replied in a cool voice. 

Frieza laughed.

"How pathetic," he replied. "You seem to know nothing more than my name. Are you aware of who I am?"

"From what I've heard of you, you're nothing but a cold-blooded murderer," Kenshin retorted. "I would almost say there is no hope for someone as wicked and as cruel as you, but there is hope for everyone. Turn from your evil ways and go back to your own planet." 

Frieza frowned, and fiery anger lighted up his eyes. He eyed the sword on Kenshin's waist. 

"You seem to think you're something!" he yelled. "I will not kill you now, but the last thing you will see is your horrid failure to protect your friends!" 

"What do you want from us, Frieza," Piccolo asked. 

"I don't want anything from you!" Frieza yelled. "All I want is to make Kakarot suffer." 

Frieza turned back to Vegeta. 

"Humph," he said. That sardonic smile twisted his lips. "You're target number one." 

Vegeta's eyes could barely widen before Frieza was in front of him, kicking him in the abdomen with three-toed foot. Blood flew out of Vegeta's mouth, and he was hurled into a nearby mountain. 

"Vegeta!" Gohan cried. 

"What is it?" Frieza asked. "Do you want to be number two?"

Gohan clenched his fists and glared at Frieza. Out of the corner of Kenshin's eye he could see Piccolo throwing off his cloak and hat. Then, he charged at Frieza, surprising him to the point that he got to punch him in the side. While Frieza was still recovering, Piccolo took to the sky and began shooting dozens of ki blast into that spot. Gohan and Kenshin swiftly jumped out of the way. When the dust finally cleared, Piccolo saw that there was no one there. 

"Did you miss me?"

Piccolo's eyes widened, and he turned around just in time to receive a wracking blow in the face. Gohan yelled out to him. Piccolo was hurled down to the ground, but he regained his footing and used his feet to push off the ground and jump back into the sky. 

"TAKE THIS!" Vegeta cried. He was battered and bruised from being thrown into the mountain, but he'd recovered somewhat. He shot a large blue energy blast at Frieza, and his joined with Piccolo's and went straight to where Frieza was floating in the sky. When the smoke cleared, Frieza was no where to be found. Except behind Kenshin. 

"Hello," Frieza said as he tried to wrap his tail around Kenshin's neck. But he dodged and with lightning speed pulled out his sakabato and aimed for Frieza's stomach. Right before the move could connect, though, Frieza disappeared. Or so it would look to the naked eye. The four fighters looked up and saw Frieza high above them in the sky. Gohan, Piccolo, and Vegeta immediately began shooting ki blasts at him, but he reflected all of them with _one_ hand. The ki blasts all went flying back to the throwers of them. Gohan dodged all of them, but one got Vegeta in the face. He flew downward, but regained his balance. When he came to, Kenshin could see that his eyes were narrowed and bleeding. Meanwhile, Frieza stood up above them in the sky, laughing. 

"You're all even more pathetic than before," Frieza said. "I would have thought that you had improved a little, but I've just been showed that you can't. I wonder where the rest of your friends are. They were all cowards, too. Well, my father was going to take care of them, any way."

"That's impossible!" Piccolo cried, shocked.

"So ignorant," Frieza replied. "Of course my father is coming! He wants to partake in the glory of destroying all of you and your wretched planet. After he and I kill all of you, they'll be no one to wish back your precious Kakarot. Then we'll make our own wish! Mwahahaha! No matter what you do, your fate is sealed. This planet will be your grave!" 

Vegeta, Gohan, Kenshin, and Piccolo looked up at Frieza grimly. They had to survive…

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gip-k's Post chapter statements: -I put a cliffie, I put a cliffie- I put a cliffie- Nananana- I put a cliffie! I put a-

Kenshin: My pardons, but may I ask you, my pardons, not to sing such a song? My pardons, but it irritates me, I say. 

Me: Oh, sorry. It's just that I don't usually put cliffies! This is like, one of my firsts, so I have to kinda celebrate, right? 

Goku: Yay! You're going to celebrate! What kind of food are we eating? 

Me: Well, um, I hadn't really decided on any food. (Goku looks shocked) Oh well, what the heck! What do you want, Goku? 

Goku: I want lots of rice, and, oh, some fish! 

Me: Well, I can't afford all that fish and since you and Kenshin are so good at catching them why don't you go do that right now? (Goku and Kenshin nod and then leave) 

Hmmm… no one to talk to now. (Pouts) Well, I gave all my special thanks in the last chapter, but I have a new reviewer, one of my friends**, Female Hitokiri Battousai! **Thanks for reading/reviewing. (Hugs) You rock! 


	11. Crystal Tears

Sentiments of **gip-k**: -Hello! Welcome to the eleventh chapter of** Be careful What you Wish for**, under the new name **Cautiously Wishing For… **I have no ramble at the current time! I must hurry and start writing this…

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Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or Dragonball Z, if I did- wait, didn't I tell you what I'd be doing? Oh, you don't remember! Well, go read it again! :)

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---Chapter 11---

The days flew by like leaves in the wind. Sanosuke soon apologized for his behavior, and he and Goku became friends again. Goku's popularity rose and fell, depending on the days. People seemed to actually become used to seeing him fly, and many tried to learn. He tried to teach them, but most simply did not have time or were too busy idolizing him. Kaoru's mood improved drastically, and soon she was back to her old self. Which was bittersweet to Yahiko. Kaoru had regained her control over him- she trained him hard, which was painful. The results, however, were desirable. 

As time passed, the stranger that had been shadowing the dojo was promptly forgotten… 

One day, Goku was going outside to get a breath of fresh air. He'd just been heavily training during previous moments. When he opened the door, his eyes widened. Charcoal orbs meant narrow forest greens. The stalker wearing the large white coat was once again staring at him, this time less than a foot away. 

"Where is Battousai?" 

Goku blinked. The man had just spoken.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Goku said.

"Lies," the man said simply. 

Goku's eyes scanned him abruptly. He was tall, and somewhere underneath that white coat were two swords. 

"W- who are you?" Goku asked, confused. 

"Humph," the man said sarcastically. "If it really matters to you, I am called Aoshi Shinomori, of the Oniwabanshu."

Something clicked in Goku's memory. Aoshi Shinomori… Kaoru had said something about him, hadn't she? Wait… hadn't she?

"Aoshi Shinomori?" 

"Yes," Aoshi coldly. "And it will be the last name you hear if you do not tell me where the Battousai is."

"I swear I don't know," Goku replied somewhat earnestly.

"It makes sense doesn't it?" Aoshi said coolly. Goku blinked. "He disappears and is immediately replaced by you. You did something to him."

Aoshi leaned forward, the bone-chilling look in his forest green eyes highly evident. 

"Don't tell me that you were actually strong enough to do away with the Battousai," he said. He looked ready to spit. "I cannot believe that, nor any of the rest of your lies. You will tell me the truth-" Aoshi's eyes glinted like knives in the sunlight. "Or you will meet your demise." 

At lightning quick speed Aoshi pulled the swords out of his coat. Goku's eyes widened and then narrowed. Seeing and predicting Aoshi's every move, he evaded the sword slashes almost perfectly. He continued jumping backwards, shocked at Aoshi's amazing speed. 

The running and jumping ended them both in the center of the dojo halls, where dozens students had previously trained. Aoshi finally finished his attacks and Goku stopped dodging them. They looked each other straight in the eyes, both growing coldly indifferent and numb of emotion. 

Suddenly, the eerie silence was shattered by the sounds of running. Goku and Aoshi both turned to the direction of the unexpected noise. 

"What's going on?" Kaoru asked, bursting into the halls and looking quite innocent in her pale pink kimono. "I heard noise."

Sano and Yahiko were right on her heels. Kaoru's eyes widened at the sight of Aoshi. 

"I knew I smelt a loser somewhere around here," Sanosuke growled. "What do you want?"

"I simply desire to know the location of the Hitokiri Battousai," Aoshi said in air chilling tones. His eyes roved over to Kaoru. "And I believe that woman knows where he is, if this, Goku Son does not." 

Kaoru paled.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kaoru replied, somewhat frightened. "I have not heard from Kenshin in weeks."

"I don't believe it," Aoshi said. "You are the Battousai's woman. He would have certainly contacted you before he… disappeared. And most certainly he did not even disappear- he is hidden. Perhaps you, Kaoru Kamiya, pressed him to hide himself for some unknown reason. I will find out where he is, no matter what it takes." 

Goku stepped in front of Kaoru.

"Leave them out of this," he said sternly.

Aoshi's eyes roved to Goku. 

"I do not wish to fight any of you," Aoshi replied. "And if you please, get out of my way before you are injured."

"No," Goku replied firmly. "Kaoru does not know where Kenshin is, and neither do I." 

"Very well," Aoshi said. "I will have to take care of you, then."

With that, Aoshi began swaying from side to side, causing the victim of his attack to see after images of him. Goku kept his eyes set on him carefully, and clenched his hand into a fist. He had to concentrate.

"Goku, be careful!" Yahiko cried, pushing out from behind Kaoru. "That attack's dangerous!" 

"Yes, be careful, Goku!" Kaoru cried. "He nearly got Kenshin with doing that thing." 

"Don't worry about him," Sanosuke said. "Macho man knows what he's doing." Inside, Sanosuke was thinking, _be careful, man. It would suck if something bad happened. _

Meanwhile, Goku carefully monitored Aoshi's movements. _He's fast_. Goku thought. _But I can see everything he's doing. _

In a split second Aoshi turned from swaying to attacking, charging at Goku, his after images following him. Goku jumped back in time, but Aoshi's two swords cut into his training clothes and into some of the skin underneath. Aoshi had expected him to be cut evenly in half. 

Goku reacted quickly, using his momentum to jump over Aoshi he punched him square in the back. Surprisingly, the punch did not connect fully because Aoshi had already been moving out of the way. The injury was done, though. Aoshi bent over slightly. Neither him or Goku were facing each other. The silence dragged on. Kaoru's breath caught. 

"I don't want to fight you, Aoshi," Goku said firmly.

Aoshi stood up straight. 

"It is not over, Goku Son," Aoshi replied. They turned again to face each other. Yahiko watched them intently. Aoshi began doing his trick again. Goku was already familiar with the attack. This time, when Aoshi charged he easily dodged it. Unfortunately, he had not been able to see that that was exactly what Aoshi had wanted him to do. When he jumped to the side of Aoshi, Aoshi used one of his two swords to slash at Goku from his position. Goku noticed this just in time, and jumped out of the way. Aoshi was not finished his attack, though. He swerved around gracefully and aimed at Goku again. Goku again evaded him. Before Aoshi knew it Goku was above him. He kicked him square in the chest, knocking him down. 

Aoshi toppled over and crashed down to the cold, hard wood floor. A soft grunt and a tightening at the corners of his mouth were enough to show that he was in pain.

Goku touched down at the ground.

"That's enough, Aoshi," he said firmly. "I don't want to hurt you anymore."

"It is you who will be hurt," Aoshi said, slowly standing back up. He grunted again.

"Yeah right!" Yahiko said. "You stink, Aoshi! Score one for Goku!" 

Goku glanced at Yahiko. The shininess in the boy's red brown eyes was evidence of the fact that he was eager to cheer Goku on. Goku turned back to his opponent, who was now standing again. 

The fight dragged on. Aoshi seemed to have gotten better, but the length of the battle and the strength and speed of Goku's kicks and punches was wearing down at him. Goku was barely at half of his full strength, but he was still beating Aoshi. It was a one-sided fight.

After thirty minutes, Aoshi's knuckles were white and strained from how tight he was holding his swords- blood was dripping down them as it was from his forehead and the corner of his mouth. He coughed, splattering more blood unto the floor. Goku became concerned.

"Aoshi-" 

Aoshi lifted up his hand.

"This fight is not over yet, Goku Son," Aoshi croaked, coughing again. He subconsciously touched his side, where Goku had just kicked him. He steadied himself once again. "I will defeat you." 

"There's no sense in fighting a battle you can't win!" Sanosuke yelled suddenly. Aoshi's forest green eyes roved to him. Sanosuke's mouth twisted. "Don't you care? If you fight any longer you'll be so battered you won't even be able to move for a day." 

"If you couldn't defeat Kenshin, how can you expect to beat this guy?" Yahiko asked, his face serious. "Have you noticed what Goku can do? If he wanted to kill you, you'd be dead right now. But in his mercy and compassion, he is sparing your life! He's not even using all his power right now, and you're still defenseless against him! Why the heck can't you just wake up?"

Yahiko's strong words echoed through the walls of the dojo halls. Then silence reigned again. Kaoru's eyes glistened with unshed tears. 

"Aoshi, if you want to, I could give you some medicine for your wounds," Kaoru asked. Her face was serious. "Miss Megumi is a good doctor, I'm sure she'd be willing to give you some treatment."

"No thank you," Aoshi said blankly. "I can take care of myself." He turned to Goku. "There is sense in what the child says-" Yahiko fumed at being called a child. "But… I will return, Goku Son, and I will defeat you."

With that, Aoshi did his after image technique again and slunk out of the dojo. 

Yahiko grinned and jumped straight in the air. 

"All right!" he said. "The sucker is gone! You rock, Goku!"

Goku smiled, and scratched his head. 

"Hey, not bad, Macho man," Sanosuke said. "You really owned him."

Goku smiled. Yahiko began swirling around Goku, congratulating him. Sanosuke stood casually against a wall, hands in his pockets. Kaoru smiled softly to herself. She gave Sano a meaningful look. He got it, and smiled back at her. 

"What are you going to do now?" Yahiko asked. 

"Eat!" Goku exclaimed immediately. "I'm _starving_!" 

Kaoru fell down anime style. 

"Hey, give the man his food," Sanosuke said with a lazy grin.

"But, I don't know if I can cook that much," Kaoru said. "Oh well," she said, smiling. "I guess I must."

"And no tofu!" Yahiko said sternly. "We have lots of leftover fish, right, Goku?"

Goku scratched his head. 

"I don't think so," he replied. "Nope, I think I ate all that yesterday."

It was Yahiko's turn to fall down anime style. Sanosuke's eyes widened to the point that they were almost as big as saucers. 

"What the heck?" he asked. "You ate _all_ that fish?"

"Well, sorry guys, I didn't know you'd wanted any."

Yahiko looked ready to cry. 

"Hey," Goku said, his eyes lighting up. "We could just go to the Akebeko again!"

"Are you crazy?" Kaoru asked. "You still owe Tae a lot of money!" 

"Hey, maybe she'll give us a free meal this time," Goku said. "I think she said something about that." 

So, after a little more deliberation, the foursome headed out to the Akebeko to eat.

Tae, as Goku had said, gave them a free meal. She had asked why they were all looking so stressed, so Kaoru told her. 

"Aoshi Shinomori?" Tae asked, shocked. 

"Shhh!" Kaoru hissed quickly. Tae quieted down. Yahiko interrupted suddenly.

"Goku beat him- he beat him- beat him- easy- easily!"

"Don't talk with food in your mouth, Yahiko!" Kaoru said. "You'll choke." 

"But it's-" Yahiko began coughing. Sano slapped him on the back very hard. He stopped coughing. "It's true! Goku beat Aoshi like he was nothing!"

Tae raised an eyebrow at Kaoru.

"It's true," Kaoru said with a soft smile.

"It's kinda of dull around here without Kenshin," Tae said, sighing. "I sure hope he turns up soon. Sometimes there's trouble over here and I'm wishing he were here."

Kaoru gave Tae a tight smile.

"I hope so, too, Tae," she replied. "I hope so too."

After eating at the Akebeko, and drinking a little sake, the foursome headed back to the dojo. 

The lights went out all around as each boarder at the dojo turned off their lights and crawled unto their futons to sleep in sweet silence. 

Kaoru slumped into her room, exhausted from the events of the day. She undressed and got into a more comfortable kimono that had no ribbon and lay down for a while on her bed, trying to go to sleep. She tossed and turned, her rest not willing to come to her. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Kenshin- that classical rurouni grin on his gorgeous face. She longed to see him again. Kaoru sat up in her bed, sighing. She would never be able to go to sleep. So instead, Kaoru got up and lighted a candle. She then re-took her seat. She hugged her knees close to her and placed her chin on them. Her tears glistened in soft light like crystals falling down a pale slope. 

"Oh, Kenshin," she said softly. "Please come back soon. Please, wherever you are, come back to me safely. Please. I love you… I love you with all my heart. I'm sorry I never told you- I'm… sorry I never said. But it's true. Please come back and I'll tell you. Please come back to me." Kaoru closed her eyes shut as more tears fell down her cheeks. "Please, wherever you are," she whispered. "Bring him back safe."

Kaoru's short prayer echoed in the night, and faded into the soft breeze. After an hour more Kaoru fell into slumber- slumber disturbed by terrible dreams. The next day ahead would be very difficult to face…

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gip-k's Post chapter statements: -That's it people. Flames welcome. I just could not think of anything more to put in this chapter without ruining the atmosphere! I tried everything! (except cutting myself off from those addictive DBU forums that have been distracting me for almost a week). Thanks for reading! :D 

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	12. Pain and Joy: Arrival of the Hero

Sentiments of **gip-k**: -Hello! People have been sitting in suspense for a long time I presume. You probably think "Yay, the story!" But no… I have decided to ramble! :D You don't have to read it though. 

Also, I'd like to note that since this is fanfiction, I'll be changing some stuff that happens in DBZ. If you have watched the show, you'll recognize these changes. If not, then you probably won't. Okay? I-

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Kenshin: May I speak to Kaoru, Miss gip-k?

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Me: NO.

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Kenshin: But why, Miss gip-k?

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Me: She is like mushy oatmeal right now, Kenshin. She can't handle any visitors. 

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Goku: That's strange. (Does the scratch on the head thing) Kaoru was fine when I last saw her. (Goku gets bonked on the head repeatedly by me but doesn't feel it so I yell in his ear instead)

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Me: GOKU YOU INSANELY DUMB BAKA SHE IS STILL WORRIED ABOUT KENSHIN SO WHEN SHE'S ALL ALONE SHE BREAKS DOWN! SHEEEEEEESH! 

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Goku: (0.o) Oh, okay.

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Disclaimer: I OWN KENSHIN! I OWN GOKU! (I hear the footsteps of two VERY angry ladies named Chi-Chi and Kaoru) Okay, scratch that. I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Dragonball Z. They belong to Watsuki Nobuhiro and Akira Toriyama respectively. (The angry footsteps stop) 

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---Chapter 12---

"But that's not fair!" Gohan cried. He clenched his hands into fists.

"Well that's just too bad," Frieza said with a devious smile on his face. "Well, who's next? Are you all too afraid to attack?"

"No," Piccolo said, glaring at Frieza. "But just tell us one thing. How did you get back?"

"Fool Namek," Frieza said, frowning angrily. "Your _friend _blew half of my body to bits!" Frieza's smile once again returned. "However… he did a foolish thing- a very foolish thing. He decided to have _mercy _on me. You don't know what pain I went through. And… my father found me like that. Robotic parts have replaced the missing parts of my body. The good thing about it is… I am even more powerful than I was before! Mwhahahahahaha!" 

The Z-fighters stared at Frieza in horror.

"That's right!" Frieza said. "My power level has increased. Also… it's just too bad that your precious Kakarot showed me mercy… now I can give him ten times the pain he ever caused me!" 

"Why?"

Frieza blinked. He looked down at Kenshin. Kenshin was staring up at him, his amethyst eyes filled with gravity.

"If Goku showed you mercy, why can't you return the favor, I say, rather than try to avenge something that is already in the past?" Kenshin asked. "I simply cannot understand the purpose of your being here, and I'd like to suggest that you return to your homeland, that I do." 

Frieza snorted.

"You pathetic weakling," Frieza said. "Do you know who I am? Are you aware of how powerful I am? You are nothing to me. You're almost not even worth killing." 

"You are right about that last statement, that you are," Kenshin replied. "I have done several wicked things during my lifetime, but instead of continuing in my cycle of killing and violence, I have decided to repent for the wrong that I have done. There is still hope for you, Frieza." 

"That's a bunch of nonsense!" Vegeta yelled, turning to Kenshin in a hot rage. "How could you possibly even _consider _forgiving that… animal!" 

"You talk big, Vegeta," Frieza said, smiling. "If I am an animal, you are my prey. All of you." 

"I'll kill you!" Vegeta cried, charging at Frieza. He aimed repeated punches at Frieza, but he simply dodged each of them, that evil smile never leaving his lips. 

Gohan watched this indignantly and fearfully. Didn't they have any chance- any chance at all?

When Gohan saw Vegeta being hurled downward to the ground by a simple punch of Frieza's, his rage was fully ignited. 

"NO!" Gohan cried. He powered up and readied to shoot his special attack. Frieza looked down at him quizzically. "MASENKO BLAST!" 

Gohan aimed that attack at Frieza with all the might he could possibly muster. His eyes widened when Frieza simply caught the attack, and began pushing it back against him. Gohan pushed back as hard as he could, but Frieza was just two strong. 

"Piccolo- help!" Gohan stammered as he tried to push the attack backwards.

"You made a mistake boy," Frieza said, smiling. 

"HELP ME!" Gohan cried. 

In a split instant Piccolo stretched out his arm all the way to Frieza's position in the sky. Frieza was shocked by this, and accidentally released his hold on the Masenko Blast. His eyes widened as he was hit full on with the power. 

Gohan was breathing hard after the attack. Piccolo was, too. 

"I- think- I think it- got him," Gohan said, gasping for breath.

"Yes," Piccolo replied. "It was a lot of power, Gohan, but I don't this battle is over yet." 

"I- know," Gohan replied. 

Kenshin, Gohan, Piccolo, and Vegeta watched anxiously as the smoke cleared. Their eyes widened. Frieza was standing in exactly the same position as before. He was completely and totally unharmed. He looked slightly annoyed though. 

"Humph," Frieza said. "Did you actually think I'd be writhing on the ground from a pathetic attack like that?" Frieza's red eyes scanned the tired group of fighters. 

__

I can't let him do this. Kenshin thought earnestly. _I can't let him hurt these people. I have to help. I have to do… something._

"Why are you picking fights with people who are so much weaker than yourself?" Kenshin asked.

Frieza looked down at him. 

"You simply don't know me, _Kenshin_," Frieza replied. 

"My pardons, but you are a coward," Kenshin said.

Gohan's eyes widened. Frieza raised a brow. 

"What?" Frieza said. "You call _me _a coward? I didn't see you doing any fighting." 

"You are a coward because you stay in the sky where some people cannot reach you, I say," Kenshin replied, his lavender eyes shining as he looked up at him. 

"Kenshin what are you doing?" Piccolo demanded. 

"Oh," Frieza said, smiling. "I see. Well, if you want to fight me so bad, I'll come down a little." 

Kenshin nodded. Piccolo and Gohan looked at Kenshin as though he had completely lost his mind. Kenshin stepped forward away from them. 

"Kenshin!" Gohan cried. "If he hit's you once you'll probably die!" 

"Don't worry about me, Gohan," Kenshin said, giving the boy a small smile. "I can take care of myself, I say."

Frieza came down to about fourteen feet above the ground. 

"If you can't reach me, it's too bad," he said, smiling. 

Kenshin smiled back.

"I thank you for your concern," he said. "But I can." 

With that, Kenshin jumped up into the sky until he was about three feet above Frieza. Then he unsheathed his sword and tried to hit him from above. Frieza dodged, and Kenshin tried to hit him again. Finally, Kenshin began floating back down to the ground. Then he jumped again and aimed at Frieza differently. He flipped around gracefully and aimed for Frieza's stomach. Frieza dodged. So Kenshin bent down a little bit. He aimed again. He once again missed. He jumped on Frieza's head to gain extra momentum so he wouldn't fall down. Frieza did not look too happy about this. Everything was every still for a second.

"It's my turn," Frieza said. He tried wrapping his tail around Kenshin's legs. Kenshin quickly hit down on him with the sword and used the momentum to push himself up once again. Frieza just barely missed him. Kenshin once again fell down to the ground. He landed smoothly. He re-sheathed his sword. 

"What's going on?" Frieza said. "I was just starting to have fun." 

Kenshin was not having fun. He was quite aware that Frieza could have at any time hurt him easily, and was not satisfied with this. This time he would do something quite dangerous. If he missed this time, he would leave himself open, and Frieza would easily be able to get him. Most of Frieza's punches could be dodged, the way he was going now. Frieza had no idea what he was going to try and do…

"AHHHHH!" 

Kenshin let out a large cry as he thrust forward an off the ground. At the right moment, right when him and Frieza were side by side… Kenshin, using his lightning speed, did the Batujitsu technique, and unsheathed his sword, aiming for Frieza's side. His heart lurched. Right when the attack was about to connect- just exactly… something terrible happened. Frieza disappeared. Kenshin's eyes widened. He had absolutely no time to react. It only took one small second… one second of floating in the sky, one second of Frieza's powering up and of Gohan screaming, running… 

Kenshin felt himself being pushed away roughly by small hands. And out of the corner of his left eye- he saw it. Gohan took the ki blast straight in the middle of his chest. His ki blast.

Kenshin landed on the ground roughly. His heartbeats were hard- strained. He felt pain all over from the impact, but he lifted his face out of the dirt. Then he saw it. Piccolo lifting Gohan out of the large indent in the ground- he saw the hole in Gohan's armor. He saw Vegeta flying over slowly. In Kenshin's mind, there was screaming- there was crying- but on his exterior there was calm. Kenshin studied the ground. _All your fault. See, you are a loser. _Kenshin was plagued with terrible thoughts. Then he looked over to Frieza, who was laughing. 

When he saw that… when he saw that laughter- that unashamed display of cruelty… something clicked in his mind. A boy was on the ground, in lots of pain- perhaps dead. And what had just happened? He was laughing! Laughing! Kenshin's hands clenched into fists. He could not accept that. The image of Gohan's limp body plagued Kenshin's mind- images of Frieza laughing about it… he hated Frieza. He hated him. The disgust and contempt was so strong… a well of bitter water rising up in him… he wanted to… he wanted to… he wanted to kill that man. 

Yes, he wanted to kill him. 

Even if he died doing it… that man would die. 

"See what happens, Kenshin?" Frieza asked, his tones disgustingly ironic. "That is who I am. Do you understand it now?" Kenshin did not answer. "Answer me, fool! Answer me!" Kenshin did not answer. He simply re-sheathed his sword. Frieza smiled. "Now you're a coward, aren't you? You're too afraid to attack. I'll show you, Kenshin! You finally understand that there is no hope. You are too ashamed to even lift your face to me. Or are you crying over the boy?" Frieza, curious, began lowering down to the ground. He spoke again. "Look at me, worm." He approached closer to Kenshin. 

Kenshin was measuring each and every one of Frieza's footsteps. When Frieza was a foot away, he looked up. Frieza's eyes widened. Kenshin's eyes were not purple anymore… they were a fiery, blazing, sunset aurora… they were amber. And they were filled with hate. 

"You once said that this place would be our grave, Frieza," Kenshin said icily. "But now, I assure you… it will be yours." 

Kenshin pulled out his sword- this time, the move connected. The reverse blade sword swept across Frieza's shoulder blade. Frieza's red eyes widened at the feeling as he was pushed backward. The feeling was… pain. 

The sword blade cracked into many pieces when it touched Frieza. The remaining hilt shook so violently in Kenshin's hand that it twisted and some of the ligaments connecting his fingers tore apart on the inside. But Kenshin did not care. This was what he wanted. He wanted to see Frieza feel pain. 

When Frieza recovered, he looked at Kenshin with severe hate and contempt.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Frieza cried. "Meet your demise, Kenshin!" 

With that, Frieza punched Kenshin straight in the stomach. He bent, and slid backward twenty feet. Then… he toppled to the ground, the punch taking all the energy out of him. He coughed out blood as he impacted. His vision blurred… was this the end? 

* * *

"Kenshin," Gohan croaked, coughing. Piccolo held him down. It was amazing that he was still alive. Were it not for his armor he would not have been. 

"Please, let me go-" Gohan coughed. "Let me go to Kenshin." 

"No," Piccolo said. "You're very weak." 

"NO!" Gohan protested, trying to wriggle away from Piccolo. "KENSHIN!" 

"Ha!" Frieza said. "You're a bunch of weaklings. Your red-haired human is dead. There is no hope." 

Then Frieza began his devious laughter once again. A solitary tear rolled down Gohan's cheek.

"He was my friend," Gohan replied, coughing. 

"Well, well, who to kill first?" Frieza replied, obviously amused. He grimaced. There was a small dent in his arm where Kenshin's attack had connected.

Vegeta frowned. He eyed Kenshin warily. _It's impossible. _Vegeta thought. _His power level couldn't have increased that much in such a small amount of time. It was almost… almost higher than mine! Impossible! Just for a second- no, it had to be impossible!_

"Well, well, who will to meet their doom first?" Frieza asked in amusement.

"You will." 

Frieza flipped around, as did the rest of the Z-fighters. Before them stood a fighter that none of them had ever seen before. 

The young man stood before them his chin lifted up high. He had piercing eyes the color of a blue azure. His hair- the one that the wind was tousling ever so softly- was the startling color of pale violet. His short navy blue coat and baggy gray pants suited him as surely as the sword strapped to his back. All together it made him the image of a hero- unashamed- unafraid- and unstoppable. 

Frieza's purplish lips twisted into another one of his trademark smiles. He looked at the youth in amusement.

"So, come to join in the fun, have you?" Frieza drawled. "It was getting kind of boring. Well I suppose if you want to die, you can decide to interrupt me."

The anonymous youth smiled. 

"I don't think so," he replied. "I'd much rather have that happen to you." 

"You seem to have a lot of confidence… for a kid," Frieza said sarcastically. "Who do you think you are?" 

"I am a Super Saiyan." 

Gohan gasped. Vegeta and Piccolo watched intently, waiting to see the result of the events unfolding before their eyes. 

Frieza laughed. 

"I'm very sure," he said. "Prove it to me." 

"Sure."

With that, the stranger began powering up. Vegeta, Piccolo, and Gohan could feel his power level rising. A gold glow surrounded him, and he began to change. His bluish eyes slowly became green, and his straight hair began to stretch out into a crazy fashion, as well as changing color. Finally, he stopped powering up. He now had pale golden hair instead of purple, and his green eyes looked even more confident than the blue. He was done his transformation.

"WHAT?" Frieza asked, red eyes wide with horror. "It's impossible!" 

The boy smiled.

"Actually, it is." 

Frieza began shaking, both with rage and fear. 

"NO!"

"I'll give you five minutes of free attacking," the youth replied calmly. "If you can't defeat me then-"

"I WON'T LET YOU DO THIS! YOU CAN'T RUIN EVERYTHING!" Frieza screamed. He quickly created a blast and then shot it at the boy. He simply moved to the side and it went straight past him. Then Frieza charged at him. The boy blocked all of his attacks. After that, Frieza shot repeated ki blast at the pale-haired youth. He deflected all of them with ease. Frieza shot a big one, and he grabbed that one and threw it off into the sky gracefully. It all seemed like a game to the boy. 

"Your five minutes are up, Frieza," the boy said, eyes serious. 

Frieza was already gasping for breath. His eyes widened when the youth appeared in front of him. Trunks shot a blast at him from point blank range, pulled out his sword, and chopped him into fifty perfect pieces. Frieza had been defeated- and defeated with ease. 

Gohan could scarcely believe what he had just seen. He blinked when the boy looked at him. The boy touched down on the ground from his place in the sky. 

Then they heard a groan. Gohan's eyes roved back and forth. They landed on Kenshin. 

Kenshin was trying to get up.

That was impossible. Kenshin was dead! 

"KENSHIN!" Gohan cried. Gohan crawled over to where Kenshin was. Piccolo and Vegeta followed him, bewildered. 

"You… defeated him?" Kenshin asked. He coughed out some blood. 

Gohan nodded. 

"I have a potion for him," the youth said, approaching them. 

Gohan, Piccolo, and Vegeta watched intently while the boy reached in his jacket and pulled out small container. He took the top off of it, and then helped Kenshin drink it. Kenshin coughed. 

"That should make him feel better," the boy replied. He looked at his watch. "We have to get over to where all the rest of the guys are. They've been battling King Cold for a whole two minutes now." 

"Hey, hold on a second!" Vegeta exclaimed. The boy looked at him. "You don't actually think you can just come in here, not tell us anything about yourself, then start running the show?" 

The boy just stared at Vegeta.

"Vegeta," Gohan replied. "This guy just defeated Frieza like he was a piece of cake! Don't you think we ought to be grateful to him?"

"Just because he defeated Frieza doesn't mean he can be trusted," Vegeta replied, glancing at the boy once again. "I think I would like to know your age, name, and where the hell you came from!" 

"I'm sorry, but there's no time for that," the youth replied simply. He turned to Piccolo. "Please take the injured man and the boy back to your ship. I'll go deal with King Cold." 

"I'm coming with you," Vegeta said firmly. 

For a second- the boy looked sheepish- but his old face came back.

"Well, okay," the boy said. "If you really want to."

"Why would I not want to come with you?" Vegeta demanded.

The boy shrugged.

"Well, let's go then," he said. 

So Vegeta and the boy powered up and blasted off. Piccolo picked up Kenshin and Gohan and flew off towards the ship.

* * *

Vegeta and the boy continued flying. Vegeta flew a little bit behind the youth. He frowned slightly. Something about the boy he didn't like. It was all the secrecy…

"Do you have a name, boy?" Vegeta asked. 

"Uh, yeah," the boy said sheepishly. "I'm sorry but I can't tell you that." 

Vegeta snorted.

"And just why is that?" he asked sarcastically.

"I have… reasons," the boy replied. 

"I might as well not ask those reasons, nor where you're from, then," Vegeta said, tone ironic. 

"I would really like to tell you, but I can't," he replied. He looked at his watch. 

"Why do you keep looking at that watch?" Vegeta replied.

The youth bit his lip.

"I think I might have gotten here too late," he muttered to himself. "If we don't get there soon, Yamcha could die."

"How do you know that?" Vegeta asked. The boy did not reply. "Oh, so that's a secret, too." Vegeta said in a gruff voice. 

The boy smiled sheepishly, his cheeks reddening.

"What do you look like that for?" Vegeta demanded.

"N- nothing," the boy replied. His face grew serious again. "I think we're getting closer."

Vegeta's hand clenched into a fist. King Cold was even more powerful than Frieza. If this kid could defeat him, he could defeat anyone.

When they reached the area, they saw a very frightened looking Bulma, and an angry, battered, and bruised Krillin. Tien lying on the ground, bleeding, and Chiaotzu was unconscious. Yamcha looked to be in the best shape, but he looked very tired. 

The youth touched down at the ground, and Vegeta did the same. 

"Hello, King Cold," He said, voice serious. 

King Cold looked just like Frieza- only he was in form two. He had black horns sticking out of his head, and the skin of his arms and legs was ribbed and pink. He also looked less like a female, and one could tell that he was older than Frieza. But he had a similar twisted smile. 

"Vegeta?" Yamcha asked, breathing hard. He looked from Vegeta to the youth. 

"Vegeta!" Krillin cried. He limped over. 

"We found four of the dragonballs, but then- then King Cold came, and we had to start fighting him," he said, seriously. "We didn't do very well. Wow, Vegeta, it's nice to see you. Is everyone else okay?" 

"No," Vegeta replied. "I wouldn't say okay-" he glanced at King Cold. "But I would say alive." 

"Well, that does not make very much sense," King Cold replied in mock-thoughtfulness. "I had thought that my son Frieza would have already killed all of you." 

"He's dead," the youth replied coldly. 

King Cold's eyes widened temporarily, but then he smiled. 

"I assume you are the one who defeated him," he replied. "It's a pleasure to meet you, lad. I think we have a few things to talk about."

"Like, what." 

"Like how you would make a fine addition to my… team," King Cold replied, a smile on his face. "A fine youth like you, one with enough strength and power to defeat someone like my son, and so easily… your talent must not be wasted. Why, I am quite sure that that sword you carry must be quite special- a unique specimen. May I see it, please? I admire its wonderful shape and design. It must be the source of your power, isn't it?" 

The youth smiled. 

"You want it-" the boy began, dropping his sword into the middle of the ground in between he and King Cold. "-You can take it."

"Hey kid are you insane what're you doing?" Yamcha demanded. 

King Cold and the youth alike both ignored this comment. King Cold's eyes lighted up as he grasped the hilt of the sword and pulled it out of the ground.

"Such a fine, unique weapon," he said, studying it. Then he looked up at the smirking boy. "HA! You made a mistake to give me this. You're probably nothing without this sword." 

"Really?" the boy asked in mock-inquisition. "Am I really nothing without that sword." 

"Yes," King Cold replied. 

He swung the sword down at the boy. The boy lifted up his hand and grabbed the edge of the blade easily, glaring up at the king. King Cold's eyes widened as he was slowly pushed back. Then, the boy kicked King Cold. He flew back, releasing the weapon. The boy threw it into the air, caught it smoothly by the hilt and just as smoothly put it in back in its sheath. 

King Cold tried to step out of the mountain that he had been pushed into. The boy began approaching him. He put on a smile that twisted the purple lips of his now bleeding mouth. 

"Come on," King Cold said. "Have mercy. I didn't do anything to you, now did I? Your power is obviously superior to mine. I was simply testing to see if your divine strength matched that of which was in my mind. We can still make a league together- you and I. We can rid the world of people who think they can threaten our… empire. So, please, have mercy. I promise this will never happen again-"

"Did you have mercy on those thousands of aliens who begged for it?" the boy asked. "Did you have mercy on their children? You squashed them like bugs under your three-toed foot. No, you didn't have mercy. So you don't deserve to have mercy shown to you." 

King Cold's eyes widened as the boy shot a solitary ki blast into the mountain where he was pinned. He barely screamed- barely saw it before he was disintegrated. The mountain caved in on his ashes, and there was nothing left of him- not anything at all. 

"Wow," Krillin breathed. 

The boy powered down and went back to normal Saiyan form. His short purple hair and azure orbs were back. He looked like just an ordinary kid again. 

"Okay, everyone, let's go back to the ship," he replied. "I'm sorry I didn't bring anymore potions. Are Tien and Chiaotzu okay?" 

All of the fighters blinked.

"How do you know their names?" Yamcha asked.

The boy looked a little uneasy.

"Um, I've heard of you all before," he replied.

"All of us?" "Krillin asked. "Even me?"

"Well, yeah," the boy said, smiling. 

Yamcha, Krillin, and Vegeta aided Tien and Chiaotzu. Then all together, they flew back to the ship.

* * *

Piccolo pushed open the door of the capsule ship. Then he entered. He carefully let Kenshin down, who grimaced, still in a lot of pain from his encounter. Then Piccolo helped Gohan get down. Piccolo flipped around suddenly at the distinct sound of beeping. He turned to a small screen that was hanging from the ceiling. The flashing red light on the left side of the metallic frame stated that someone was trying to reach them. 

"Get it," Gohan said. "I think it's Mom."

Piccolo heeded to Gohan's request and pressed one of the buttons on the screen's frame. Immediately, he saw crackling. Then the screen cleared, and just as expected, was Gohan's mother. Also, Master Roshi, Oolong, Puar, and Dr. Briefs were there, too, all trying to squeeze in and take a look.

"Piccolo?" Chi-Chi said. "Piccolo, can you see me?"

"Yeah," Piccolo replied.

Puar cut in front of Chi-Chi, concern etched into her features. 

"Where's Yamcha?" she asked. 

Chi-Chi pushed back in front of Puar. She looked extremely frantic and concerned.

"Where's Gohan?" she asked. "Where's my son?"

"I'm right here, Mom," Gohan said, crawling up in range of the screen. 

"Gohan!" Chi-Chi, cried, her eyes filled shock and a glimpse of pain. "Gohan, what happened to you?"

"We ran into some problems," Piccolo said, face serious. "Frieza re-appeared." 

"What?" Master Roshi exclaimed. "But that's not possible!"

"Where's Yamcha!" Puar cried. "Is he all right?"

"I… don't know," Piccolo replied. 

"What do you know, then?" Master Roshi asked.

"I do know that a kid with pale purple hair appeared out of nowhere and killed Frieza like he was nothing," Piccolo replied grimly. 

"WHAT?" Oolong cried. 

"There's lots we still don't know yet," Piccolo said, his eyes looking disturbed. 

"I want my son back here!" Chi-Chi cried. "You seem to always be putting him in harms way, so you'd better bring him back safe or I swear I will f***ing kill you!" 

"Chi-Chi, calm down," Oolong said.

"NO!" Chi-Chi cried, fighting them. "My son is out there and I want him back home!" 

Then the signal began to fade. 

"NO!" Chi-Chi was screaming. Then the connection winked out of existence. 

Piccolo turned off the screen. There was little use in looking at static. 

Piccolo turned to Kenshin, who was still bleeding badly. 

"He needs help," Piccolo replied. "I am going to go get the senzu beans and some bandages." Gohan nodded. 

So Piccolo went to get the first aid kit and the senzu beans, and Gohan stayed with Kenshin, who was pale and breathing raggedly. 

"Gohan-" Kenshin said, grabbing Gohan's arm. 

Gohan's eyes widened. 

"What is it?" He asked softly.

"Thank you for… saving me," Kenshin said. He smiled softly. "All of this is-" He coughed- a cough that made Gohan feel like crying. "I have never- had anyone- jump in my way like that before. I- _cough- _would have died. Had it, not, been for your kindness. I- _cough- cough- _do not deserve that. I am so… unworthy." 

"Kenshin," Gohan said firmly, struggling to steady his voice. "Piccolo went to find the senzu beans and some bandages. You're going to be okay."

Kenshin smiled.

"Yes, I know," he replied. "I have faced death- many times. But always… always alone. I was sure it was all over. But then, I saw- I saw- Miss Kaoru." 

"Who is Miss Kaoru?" Gohan asked softly. 

"She is- very beautiful," Kenshin replied. "She… runs the dojo that I stay at. She… she has been so kind to me." 

"So you saw her?" Gohan asked. He felt his stomach twisting- he was both nervous and eager.

"Y- yes," Kenshin replied, still smiling. "I- I saw her… crying. She was… calling my name. She- she told me to get up. She- she was- she was screaming. She said that I couldn't die- she said- people needed me. She said- said that I had to get up. She was crying so hard. I… I've never seen her like that." 

Just then, Piccolo returned with the senzu beans. He fed a quarter to Kenshin so that he would still be numb during the bandaging, but he gave a whole one to Gohan.

"You're not going to eat any?" Gohan asked.

Piccolo shook his head.

"I don't need it."

Kenshin was a wreck. Some of his armor had poked into him from Frieza's punch. Gohan felt cold- he felt… disturbed. Kenshin's breathing became more ragged. Gohan almost wanted to tell Piccolo to be careful, but that was stupid. Piccolo was always careful. Kenshin grimaced. He looked so… weak. 

Finally, after a few more agonizing moments, Piccolo was done. He gave Kenshin the rest of the senzu bean and some water. Kenshin seemed better. He closed his eyes, his breathing slowly steadying. 

"He's going to be okay, isn't he?" Gohan asked.

Piccolo nodded. 

"I can't believe he's alive," Piccolo replied grimly. "He should be dead right now. I'm starting to wonder whether or not he's human." 

Just then, the door of the capsule ship opened to admit the rest of the fighters, and the mysterious boy. Bulma greeted Gohan cheerfully. She was about to start rambling about the mysterious boy, when her eyes fell on Kenshin. She gasped and put a hand to her mouth.

"Oh my God," she said. "What -?"

"Frieza hit him," Piccolo replied simply.

"Yes," Gohan said, nodding. "But he'll be okay now."

"Hi, kid," Yamcha said. He looked around the place. Then his face grew grim. "It looks like we're all alive." 

"Yes," Bulma said. 

"Puar was really worried about you, Yamcha," Gohan said. "We got a message from her through transmission."

The fighters talked a little more. Krillin, Tien, and Chiaotzu were given senzu beans. Everyone sat down to rest. 

"This guy," Bulma said cheerfully, pointing to the mysterious boy. "Defeated King Cold like he was a piece of cake!" 

The boy blushed.

"And he's a Super Saiyan!" Yamcha exclaimed. "Just like Goku!" 

The boy looked even more sheepish at this. Vegeta was not amused.

"In case no one noticed," Vegeta said. "It is impossible for this boy to have Saiyan blood in his veins. Kakarot and I are the only Saiyans left."

"But he can do the transformation," Yamcha argued. "But hey, I suppose we do need some answers."

All eyes turned to the boy.

"Hey, and isn't that the Capsule Corp. icon on your jacket?" Bulma asked, brightening up at the notice of it.

The youth looked even more embarrassed.

"Um, I'm a fan of Capsule Corp., too," he replied sheepishly. He glanced at Vegeta.

"What are you looking at me for?" Vegeta asked.

The boy quickly looked away.

"Well, I'm sorry everyone, but I can't exactly tell you where I came from," he replied. "It's kinda… classified." 

"Apologies, apologies," Vegeta replied sarcastically. "I don't think we asked for those." 

"I mean, come on, can't you tell us something?" Krillin asked.

"Well, I'm not from around here," he said. 

"How old are you?" Yamcha asked.

"I'm fourteen," the youth replied shyly. 

"Oh, and those were not obvious," Vegeta replied sarcastically.

The group talked a little more. 

"I kinda have to get back home," the boy said. "My mom… will be worried about me."

"Oh, come on!" Bulma exclaimed. "Can't you just stay a little longer?"

"I'm, afraid not," the youth replied, glancing at Vegeta. He blushed. "Uh, I have to sort of get home."

"Why the hell do you keep looking at me?" Vegeta asked.

"Uh, no reason," the boy replied. "Well, uh, bye everyone." 

He turned to leave. "Well, um, also, the last dragonball is to the far south east of here. I believe you guys were looking for the other two when you went over there, right, Gohan?"

Gohan nodded.

"Well, okay," the boy replied. "Well, it was nice meeting you, everyone." The youth smiled and waved to Bulma. "I'll see you guys some other time." 

Then he left the capsule ship and through the window, could be seen powering up and flying away. 

"Wow, he was strange," Bulma replied. "But cute!" 

Then she looked at Vegeta. "You know, you and he seem to resemble each other a little bit. Don't you think so, Yamcha?"

Vegeta did not look amused. 

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gip-k's Post Chapter Statements: -Well, that's it! There goes my max chapter thing. This time I went like, two pages over it, and last I went three under. (!!!) Oh well, who cares? I am sure hoping you all liked it! I would like to thank my new readers/reviewers. 

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Chibi Binasu-chan

No, you rock! You rock all the way! Thank for reviewing! 

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Mashed Potato Master

Thanks for reviewing! You are cool! 

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Britanny67 

Thank you for reviewing as well! I liked your review and I'm glad you're reading! :D

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Sepia-Shadowdress

Thank you for reviewing as well! I like all the reviews! :D 

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And also, thanks to ALL my reviewers, especially those who have me on their author alert list! (Hugs) All of you rock! I still haven't found out who Midnight Youko is or which of my stories that person read, but thanks for putting me on your favorites' list!

Also, for those of you who do not know who the "mysterious youth" is, then e-mail me and I can give you the whole real scoop! Or, you can go to the Dragonball Z official web site. Other web sites well give you information on power levels and such. Thanks, everyone! 

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	13. Best Wishes

Sentiments of **gip-k: **-Hello! Welcome to the 13th Chapter of CWF! I am thinking this is probably the last one. I'd like to thank all my reviewers for their generous support. I couldn't have done it without you guys! Also I'd like to thank Watsuki Nobuhiro and Akira Toriyama. They are the writers of the shows and I'd really like to think them for putting so much effort and talent into making them. I am really glad they decided to! 

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Goku: (Yawns) So this is the end, then? I can finally go home?

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Kenshin: (Gets the Battousai eyes) What of me? I am hoping, gip-k, that you have made the choice to release me.

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Me: Sure, Kenshin. Goku… hmmm… I might want to keep you as a souvenir. (Goku looks terrified and I laugh). Okay, okay, you can go home, too. It was fun working with you both!

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---Chapter 13---

After a few days of rest, the Z-fighters finally decided it was time to go make their wishes. They gathered up their things. Kenshin was still recovering, so Bulma had used much of her effort to transform one of her ATV's into something that could drive _while _letting him still lie down on it. Even Vegeta had to admit it was a clever invention- he called it stupid. 

Gohan felt a pang of sadness as he looked at Kenshin being loaded unto the machine Bulma had so swiftly built for him. This might be the last time he ever saw him again, but that was the way it was. Gohan was very happy, for he was going to finally get to see his father again, so the moment was all together bittersweet.

Tien and Chiaotzu were much better, on that day- almost in tip-top shape. All was well. Piccolo had gathered up the dragonballs, and had even spoke with Dende and some of the other Nameks that were there. Dende was the new Guardian, since Guru had long since died. He was going to translate their requests to Porunga, who only understood the Namek language. Morri was quite shocked at the events that had occurred, and stated that he would be quite happy to help them. So that was that.

When everyone was ready, the group headed out. 

"We're really going to miss you, Kenshin," Bulma said softly. "You're a lot of fun!" 

"Thank you, Miss Bulma," Kenshin replied.

Bulma winked.

"No problem," she said. 

"Yeah, she's right," Yamcha said. "You're a pretty cool guy. Are you going to keep those clothes we bought you? Huh?"

"I'll consider it," Kenshin replied sheepishly. 

"Finally Kakarot will return," Vegeta said, smirking. He seemed to be in the best mood he'd been in for days. He turned to Kenshin. "So you're going back home today. Humph." Something in Vegeta's eyes said he was a little disappointed, too.

"You, jerk!" Bulma replied. "I can't believe you're not even saying good-bye to Kenshin!"

"Same old Vegeta," Krillin said, smiling. 

"Hey, this seems like a good place," Dende said, grinning. 

"Yeah," Tien said. "It seems good enough of a spot." 

So the group stopped there. They put the dragonballs down together on the ground. Everyone took a deep breath. 

"All right," Dende said, sighing. "Everything's ready, now." 

Piccolo nodded. 

"Summon the dragon."

Dende said, "rise up, Porunga" in the Namek language. The dragonballs began to glow, and thunder clapped in the sky above them. It began to change from it's lovely green to a threatening black. 

Out from the midst of the dragonballs the dragon began to appear. 

"ORO!" Kenshin exclaimed. 

Finally, the dragon had emerged fully. It resembled Shenlong, except that it was even larger than he was- much larger. The dragon bent down to peer at them with eyes glowing like blood red flames. 

"WHO HAS DISTURBED MY SLUMBER?" The dragon demanded in a deep, loud voice.

Dende responded in the Namek language. He told the dragon about their desire for him to grant them a wish. When Dende was finished speaking, he turned to them.

"He's asking what you want to wish for first," Dende said. 

The fighters looked at each other. After a little deliberation, they decided.

"Ask the dragon to heal all of Kenshin's injuries," Piccolo replied. 

Dende nodded. In the Namek language he asked the request. Immediately, there was a flash of light around Kenshin, and immediately his injuries were amended. Kenshin stood up, though he was still bewildered.

"YOUR WISH IS GRANTED," the dragon replied. "WHAT IS YOUR SECOND WISH?" 

Dende turned back to them.

"Ask the dragon to give Kenshin a sword exactly like the one that was destroyed," Yamcha said quickly. 

"Are you sure?" Dende asked. 

All the fighters nodded. Dende turned back to the dragon and interpreted their request. Immediately, another flash of light surrounded Kenshin and his reverse blade sword was back at his waist.

"YOUR WISH IS GRANTED," the dragon said. "NOW, WHAT IS YOUR LAST WISH?"

Tien took a deep breath, as did many of the other Z-fighters. They looked at Kenshin dolefully.

"We're going to miss you, Kenshin," Chiaotzu said. "You've been a real help during the battles."

"I agree with Chiaotzu," Tien said. "It was great having you around."

Kenshin nodded. His face was serious. Vegeta spoke up. 

"I suppose you weren't as much of a weakling as I thought," he said, smirking. "It was not even remotely nice knowing you." 

"Vegeta!" Bulma yelled.

"What?" Vegeta asked. "Don't you know a joke when you hear one?"

Kenshin smiled sheepishly. 

"Well, I guess you have to go now," Yamcha said.

"Yep," Krillin said, smiling. "Have a safe trip. Say hi to all your friends for us." 

Kenshin nodded. 

"I appreciate your kindness," he said. Kenshin turned his eyes down to Gohan, who was looking up at him sadly. He put his hand on the boy's shoulder. 

"Don't look so sad, Gohan," Kenshin said, smiling sympathetically. "I truly appreciate your kindness towards me- such kindness that I rarely find." 

Gohan hugged Kenshin. Kenshin looked surprised, but then smiled faintly and patted the boy on the head. 

"Um, guys?" Dende asked. "You know the dragon isn't really very patient so-"

Gohan released Kenshin. His face looked very serious. 

"I'm okay," he said, looking brave. "You're a great friend, Kenshin."

"You are, too," Kenshin replied. He turned to Dende. "Tell the dragon to bring Goku Son to this very location that I am at right now, and send me to Goku's location, I say." 

Dende nodded. He spoke the words in the Namek language. Kenshin waved good-bye. Bulma waved back. It was time.

* * *

Goku stood in front of the Kamiya dojo, training. Kaoru and Yahiko were with him, enjoying the great outdoors. It was an extremely beautiful day. Butterflies fluttered around the plush green bushes that were ever so abundant in the dojo, and birds chirped cheerfully in the lovely trees. All was peace- quiet. Tranquility. 

"Goku, what's happening to you?" Yahiko asked, eyes widening. 

Goku blinked. He stopped his punching and kicking and looked at himself. There was a magenta glow around him. 

"HEY!" Goku cried excitedly. "It's happening! Someone's wishing me back!" 

"Wait, doesn't that mean-" Yahiko began.

"But that means your leaving," Kaoru said. She looked kind of sad. "And… and Kenshin's coming back?"

Goku nodded.

"All right, Kenshin's coming!" Yahiko exclaimed. 

"I guess it's almost time for me to go," Goku said. 

"We'll… miss you, Goku," Kaoru said, smiling. "You've been very kind to us." 

"Thanks, Kaoru!" he said. "I'll miss you guys, too." 

"Hey, tell your kid I said hi," Yahiko said quickly. "And tell him he had better be strong or I'll whip his a**." Yahiko winked. 

Suddenly, the black and purple swirling portal reappeared. Yahiko's eyes became as round as saucers. Kaoru's eyes shone with unshed tears. She waved to Goku. He waved back. Then Goku was sucked straight into the portal…

Kaoru waited anxiously, her heart beat quickening. She would finally get to see her Kenshin again. The rurouni smile and amethyst eyes were both clear in her mind. She wanted to see him so bad. The longer it took the more she felt like she would burst. She closed her eyes in an effort to control her emotions. She needed to breathe- yes, breathe. 

"Miss Kaoru!" 

Kaoru's eyes burst open. She saw Kenshin, standing right by the portal as it winked out of existence. She blinked again. Was he truly there? Truly? 

"Ken-shin," Kaoru breathed faintly. "KENSHIN!" 

Suddenly- everything else immediately disappeared from Kaoru's view- all that was left was the red-haired man before her. She ran towards him almost faster than he could to her. But he got there first. Kaoru wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to her, letting her tears flow freely. Kenshin smoothed her hair ever so softly.

"Oh, Kenshin," she cried, sobbing into his shirt. "Why did you leave me?"

"Miss Kaoru…" he said tenderly. 

Kaoru finally pulled herself together and stopped crying. She looked deep into his violet eyes. His gorgeous face held a soft, sympathetic smile, and his eyes were shining with joy. 

"I- I-" Kaoru wanted so bad to say that she loved him, but her stupid old self broke down in crying again. "I missed you."

"I missed you as well, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin said softly.

Kaoru looked deep into those amethyst eyes- she let the look of them fill her soul. She continued looking at him, and he looked back at her. She dared to bring her face closer to his, and surprisingly he did not try and refuse. Their lips were almost touching when they heard a voice. 

"Hey? Why didn't someone tell me?"

The quickly pulled away from each other and turned to the source of the sound. Sanosuke was standing before, a deep frown on his face.

"Sano," Kenshin, said, surprised to see him.

"OH!" Yahiko cried. "You are such an _idiot_, Sano! Why didn't you let them do it?" 

"Because, someone was supposed to tell me that Kenshin was back!" Sano snapped back at him.

Kaoru blushed and studied the ground, she looked back up at Kenshin, who gave her a meaningful look and one of those classical rurouni smiles. She couldn't help but smile back. They let the two friends yell at each other while they linked arms and strolled into the house together. Everything was back to normal.

* * * 

When Goku emerged from the portal, he was greeted with a loud cheer. 

"Hi guys!" He said cheerily.

"Hey, long time no see, Goku!" Krillin said, his face beaming. 

"Hi, Krillin," Goku said. "Where's Gohan?"

"DADDY!" 

Goku could scarcely turn his eyes toward his son before he was caught in a big hug. He laughed.

"Hey, Gohan," he replied cheerfully. "Don't hug your dad so tight." 

"Dad," Gohan replied, still not releasing him. 

Goku ruffled his son's hair.

"Dad, I missed you," Gohan replied. 

"I missed you, too, Gohan," Goku replied. "And your mother." Goku looked around. "Hey, this looks like New Namek."

"It is," Krillin replied. "We had to come here to wish you back."

"And Frieza came," Tien replied grimly.

"Frieza?" Goku asked, shocked. 

"His father, too," Chiaotzu added.

"We had to fight them," Gohan said, finally releasing his father. "Kenshin helped." 

"We would have all died," Yamcha replied.

"Some kid came here, though," Piccolo added in gruffly. "Then he-"

"Defeated King Cold and Frieza like they were cake!" Bulma exclaimed cheerfully. "And he was cute, too!" 

"He claims to be a Super Saiyan," Vegeta said dryly. "It appeared he could do the transformation, but you and I are the only Saiyans that are alive."

After a little more discussion, and a lot of welcoming, they group finally left to go back to the Capsule Ship. It was time to go home. This time, Bulma flew the ship at twice the speed than she had before.

* * *

Chi-Chi was inside the house, doing some household cleaning, or rather, _attacking _the furniture. Oolong, Puar, and Master Roshi were essentially sitting around doing nothing. That was when they all heard a loud noise. It sounded like a ship approaching. Chi-Chi immediately dropped her dusting tool and rushed to the door. She put a hand to her brow to block some of the sunlight. It was indeed as she had assumed. Her family was returning!

She felt like she would burst. Why the heck couldn't the ship land? 

Finally, the agonizing moments were over, and the ship landed on the ground. The door opened. Chi-Chi bit her lip anxiously. The first person to step out…

…was her husband. 

And when she saw that man step out… she felt warm. He was so… muscular… strong. Was it just all in her head, or was he walking differently? Chi-Chi suddenly got an idea- a very naughty idea. 

The moment Goku's eyes met hers she put a very upset look on her face. Then she turned on her heels and ran.

"Chi-Chi!" Goku cried. "Chi-Chi, wait!" 

Chi-Chi ran into their bedroom and hid behind the door. Goku rushed after her quickly, and Chi-Chi hid behind the door, still smiling. Goku rushed in the room.

"Chi-Chi?" he asked, looking around the room. 

Then Chi-Chi slammed the door shut and locked it. 

Goku flipped around. Chi-Chi ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him, roughly kissing all over his face. 

"Chi-Chi," Goku protested, trying to move his head out of the way. "Chi-Chi- Chi-Chi! What- what are you- what are you doing?" 

Chi-Chi finally stopped kissing him but did not let him go. She smirked up at him. 

"I just couldn't let you run off with Krillin and start talking about something," Chi-Chi said. She breathed hot air on his neck as she whispered to him. "You belong here, with your wife." 

Then Chi-Chi kicked Goku. He was so surprised that he actually flew back a little. 

"Chi-Chi-" 

Chi-Chi rammed into him. This time he fell on the bed. She jumped on him and he let out a grunt.

"Chi-Chi gimme a break I just got home," he said. Chi-Chi began attacking his clothes. She kissed him more. Finally he gave in and wrapped his arms around her. 

Then they heard a rap on the door. Goku tried to pull the covers over them- hard when they were on the covers. He barely got away from Chi-Chi's repeated kissing long enough to ask who it was.

"It's me, Krillin," the voice said. "Are you two okay?" 

"Yeah- AH!" Goku cried as Chi-Chi pulled them both down to the ground. She started laughing from this silly mistake. "Yeah we're fine!"

Krillin finally found out just what was going on, and decided to leave. Goku was relieved… and happy. 

They were going to have some fun. 

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gip-k's Post Chapter Statements: -Yup! That's how I ended it! :p Sorry to those we were pissed off at that, but I seriously don't think anyone was! :D Hehe. I would put a lot of special thanks, but this is sufficient…

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THANK YOU!!!!

THANK YOU!!!!

THANK YOU!!!!

THANK YOU!!!!

THANK YOU!!!!

THANK YOU!!!!

THANK YOU!!!

THANK YOU!!!!

THANK YOU!!!!

I think I said "thank-you" ten times. Well I should say it more! To all of those who have reviewed my stories and will review them in the future… YOU GUYS ROCK! Stay with me now, for after a short period of "rest" I will be able to come out with new fanfictions and original fictions. I am going to send a lot of my work to **Fiction Press**, the sister site of fanfiction.net. I'm **gip-k** there so you will be able to easily find me! Thanks again, everyone! I will send you people Yahoo! Greetings when I get the chance! :D

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